| 21 December 2008
Observations About the League
By Phillip Barnett
No love for Timmy?
These last thre weeks we've had a lot of questions answered about who are the elite of the league and what teams will be in the running for the Blake Griffin sweepstakes. However, some questions have been left unanswered - until now.
Why doesn't Tim Duncan get any love from the fans?
In my last MVP rankings I had Tim Duncan ranked sixth amongst his peers
as far as MVP consideration went at the time and I got some feedback
from readers saying that Duncan was either too high on the list or
should have been taken off completely. As a Lakers fan who has watched
Mr. Duncan destroy my favorite team on more occasions than I can count
on my two hands, I couldn't understand why he wouldn't get any love
from basketball fans around the country considering the Spurs record
and the number of games both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have missed
due to injury this season. After starting 2-5, the Spurs have won 11 of
14 games.
With both Parker and Ginobili out, Duncan has had to start along side the likes of Michael Finley's old ass, Fabricio Oberto, Roger Mason Jr. and the rookie George Hill. This starting lineup falls short of impressive, but guys like Mason and Finley have stepped up huge and Hill has been even better than advertised (which I guess was expected because the Spurs always draft well). What's been the most impressive is the way Duncan was still able to play his game despite not having Parker or Ginobili on the floor to take double teams away from him. Now, with Hill getting valuable minutes in Ginobili and Parker's absence and the great play from Mason Jr., the Spurs look as poised as ever to be contenders in the West, especially if Parker goes back to playing like an MVP candidate like he was before he was injured. If anything, I probably should have had Duncan ranked higher a couple of weeks ago.
Are the Cleveland Cavaliers really that good?
LeBron and co. just saw an impressive 11-game winning streak come to
and end and it has many people wondering if the Cavs are really as good
as their record is showing. The answer is two-fold bearing in mind who
they've played during their win streak and the two teams they lost to
before the streak started. The first game of the streak was an 110-96
drubbing of the Atlanta Hawks at home - and outside of their 114-94 win
over Toronto - that Atlanta game was their toughest game since their
loss in Detroit. Before the loss to Detroit the Cavs rattled off eight
straight wins with their only tough road game being played in Dallas
and their toughest home game featured a Deron Williams-less Utah Jazz
team.
Check out the rest of his observations plus his MVP Rankings right here.
Boston Celtics 124, New York Knicks 105 in Boston
By Zach Harper
The Boston Celtics kept up their winning ways Sunday evening with a convincing and yet not so automatic win over the New York Knicks. This game seemed to be completely decided after the first quarter when the C's scored 40 points and finished the first 12 minutes of the game clock with a 19-point lead. But the Knicks kept coming in the second quarter and turned a one-time 23-point deficit into an eight-point deficit after Chris Duhon hit a shot that was just inside the halfcourt line as the two teams entered halftime.
The Celtics took over in the third quarter thanks to a guy who is making it hard to argue against his candidacy for a spot on the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Rajon Rondo made all nine of his third quarter shots and finished with 18 points in the quarter. The first eight of those nine field goals were all layups that resulted from him breaking down Chris Duhon, Nate Robinson, and whoever else was unfortunate enough to have to guard him on switches. Rajon Rondo's layup drill helped the Celtics score 32 points in the quarter and push the lead to 11 going into the fourth.
The difference between an Isiah Thomas led Knicks team and the Mike D'Antoni regime is this team will never give up in a game. Last year, we saw a Zeke Knicks team lose an embarrassing game by 45 points after failing to match the Celtics during any point of the first half. This year with more offensive confidence and more motivation to put up a fight, the Knicks never allowed themselves to be out of this game. They consistently forced the Celtics starters and backups to keep applying pressure because they had to weather the runs of the Knicks. Quentin Richardson led the Knicks with 29 and Chris Duhon recorded his eighth double-double of the season. Nate Robinson also had 23 points off the bench in an effort to keep clawing at the defending champs.
For the Celtics, they had seven players score in double figures and Eddie House nearly made that eight with nine points of his own. The Celtics shot an absurd 65.8% from the field throughout the entire game and recorded 33 assists on 50 made baskets. They more than doubled the Knicks rebounding totals with a 47-23 advantage but kept the Knicks in this game by turning the ball over 23 times, which led to 24 points. The Celtics take their 18-game win streak (tied a franchise record) into their game against Philadelphia Tuesday night.
Golden State Warriors (8-20) at Orlando Magic (21-6) at 4pm PST
By Zach Harper
Both of these teams are coming off of impressive performances in one way or the other and have very different apsirations for the rest of the season. The Orlando Magic are trying to prove that they are one of the teams that belong in the conversation for title contender. The Warriors on the other hand are still trying to deal with life minus their starting backcourt from last season. With Baron Davis gone to the cess pool that is the Clippers and Monta Ellis still a month away from returning from his Evil Kineval debacle, Golden State is trying to remain competitive and get ready for a run towards the playoffs when they get to full strength.
For the Warriors, they've been saddled with a road-heavy schedule so far this season and have not responded well. Through their first 28 games, they've already played 17 road games and have only won four of those games. They can't stop anybody and put themselves in an unfavorable position to have to score 115 points to win. They're giving up a league-high 111.9 points per game this season and they've only kept opponents under 100 points three times this year. But the Warriors are coming off of a potentially inspiring performance. The Warriors beat the Bobcats in Charlotte on Saturday night with a 50-point outburst from Jamal Crawford. They'll see if they can ride that momentum into Orlando.
For the Magic, they're trying to convince the rest of the NBA and its pundits that they belong with the Lakers, Celtics, and Cavs as the cream of the crop across the Association. They've played about as well as they can in an extremely challenging six-game stretch with just one loss against some of the top competition in the NBA. They've played at Portland, at Phoenix, at Utah, at Golden State, and then home to San Antonio and the Lakers and have only lost the game against the Suns. They have the second best road record in the league with a 10-3 mark and are tied for the fourth most home victories in the league with 11.
Key Match-Up: Jamal Crawford versus Jameer Nelson
There are point guards playing better basketball than Jameer Nelson right now but there aren't many of them. Jameer Nelson has become a forced to be feared over the past six games. He's averaging 22.8 points per game during this stretch of basketball and is shooting 54% from the field. He's also made 18 three-pointers during this time and has had as deadly of a mid-range attack as anybody in the league. He's going to have to force Jamal Crawford to play defense for the Magic to maintain this momentum and continue to be a reliable option on offense. If he can play adequate defense against Crawford and not let him get anywhere close to the rhythm he had Saturday against the Bobs then the Magic should be able to win their 22nd game of the year.
Prediction: Orlando wins and probably approaches 130 points
How about you get caught up in two different types of streaks?
By Zach Harper
This is the Boston Celtics team that I recognize from my youth and yet they look nothing like the team that I've grown up seeing. Two years ago, the Boston Celtics became the laughing stock of the NBA and a team that was allegedly trying to work the lottery system when they lost 18 games in a row. This Paul Pierce led team that featured young players who appeared to be lost in the whirlwind of the NBA put this once proud franchise at a new low that had never been ventured before by any team in green. The 18th loss in that streak came at the hands of a Kevin Garnett led Timberwolves team that was also mired in their own frustrating lack of success.
If you count Brian Scalabrine as an NBA player, this current Celtics team who is now introduced as the defending NBA Champions has five players from the team that set the franchise mark with 18 straight losses. Rajon Rondo, Brian Scalabrine, Leon Powe, Kendrick Perkins and Paul Pierce all suffered through those 18 losses and the accusations of tanking the season in order to improve their chances of winning the Greg Oden/Kevin Durant sweepstakes. But the best thing that could have happened to these guys was losing out on the lottery and being forced to settle for the fifth pick in the draft. Not having the luxury to select either of those two franchise saviors eventually turned into a Ray Allen trade. And that Ray Allen trade eventually convinced Kevin Garnett that the Celtics were serious enough about winning to make him give his blessings to a trade that would bring him to Boston.
Now the Celtics have their 17th title hanging from the rafters and have a squad that is playing so well and in such a dominant manner that they have tied the franchise record for consecutive wins with 18. They're going to bring their winning streak to their match-up against Philadelphia on Tuesday and then take a shot at 20 straight wins with a much-anticipated showdown with the Lakers on Christmas day. The difference in this team and the losing team from two years ago is more than just two future Hall of Fame players. This team goes into every game expecting to win. This team has a swagger from Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce down to Eddie House and Leon Powe that comes off as arrogance to most and inspiration to their fans.
The Celtics probably won't approach the Lakers' record of 33 straight wins and it's highly unlikely that they'll be the second team in NBA history to win 70 games in a single regular season. But this stretch of Celtics teams is making a case for themselves to mentioned with the hallowed dynasties of NBA history. Sure, it's only been 1 1/3 years with this squad and a lot could eventually go wrong. But the Celtics are hands down the best team in the league and probably the best team of the last 10 years. They have the tools and the committment of their players to turn this 100+ game stretch of dominance into a three to four-year run of championships and banners.
It's still possible to not take this Celtics team seriously in a historic sense, just two years removed from being a punchline amongst NBA pundits. But as their current streak grows and adds to their swagger, you're eventually going to have to consider them as the team of this decade.
By Zach Harper
"You play out this season of course; I will consider it. The direction we are headed is everything I expected and more. I definitely want to keep an open mind, I will look at everything. [The extension] is a good point. I think me and my group have pretty much made good decisions so far and we'll look at the options and go from there." -- LeBron James about possibly considering to sign a contract extension this summer
There can't be a more emotionally and pyschologically unbalanced fan base than the Cavaliers' fans. And it's understandable. The entire basketball media is needling at getting some kind of affirmation that LeBron will take his stardom to a bigger market. So they get defensive when he's aloof instead of doing the right thing and denying that he wants to go anywhere. And then comments like these are made and they get some overconfidence in thinking that he'll never leave. LeBron is about image first and everything else second. I don't think you can trust him either way. Just enjoy him now while you're positive you still have him.
Top 3 of the Night
1. Rajon Rondo - 26 pts, 6 rebs, 5 asts, 12-14 fg
Rajon Rondo is making it hard to not call him an All-Star when the game finds its way to Phoenix in mid-February. He took over the third quarter Sunday by scoring 18 points and making all nine of his shots in the period. You get the feeling that Allen Iverson being voted in will make him a snub when the rosters are set.
2. Mike Bibby - 27 pts, 5 asts, 3 stls, 10-13 fg, 6-6 3fg
If there was ever a case to make for the Pistons looking much worse since trading Chauncey Billups, Mike Bibby presented that case Sunday morning against Detroit. He torched the Pistons for 27 points and killed them with threes. Chauncey Billups had to have been on the minds of Pistons' fans as they watched this one.
3. LeBron James - 31 pts, 7 asts, 4 rebs, 3 stls
LBJ actually had to play a fourth quarter this time and logged 43 minutes in the defeat over the surprisingly tough OKC Thunder on Sunday. He scored 25 of his 31 in the first three quarters and helped send the Thunder to their 25th loss in 28 games.
Bottom 3 of the Night
1. Al Harrington - 10 pts, 4 rebs, 2-15 fg, 2-10 3fg
Harrington couldn't get anything to drop against the Celtics but that didn't stop him from trying to end the Celtics' 17-game winning streak. All hoisted ill-advised three after ill-advised three as the Knicks fell to five games under .500 for the first time all season.
2. DeShawn Stevenson - 0 pts, 3 asts, 0-2 fg, 15 mins.
It's confounds me that this man continues to be a starting player in the NBA. Maybe it's part of the NBA Cares program where they're trying to prove to the kids of this world that anybody can play in the NBA. Or maybe they just feel bad for Stevenson. He had his second scoreless game of the season and his fourth game in which he failed to make a basket. The Wiz lost by 11 to the Mavs.
3. Tayshaun Prince - 2 pts, 8 rebs, 4 asts, 1-8 fg
Tayshaun Prince was bothered by the presence of Josh Smith throughout this ball game and forced nearly all of his shots in the loss. He settled for bad jumpers that weren't in rhythm because he didn't seem to think he could get a better shot against the uber-athletic Smith.
Here are the Top Blog Posts from yesterday.
1. From Free Darko-
Shoals on a Sunday
2. From Baller Blogger-
Hoffman thinks the Cavs have all of the tools for a title
3. From Golden State of Mind-
Jamal Crawford's 50, a moment frozen in time. Hilarious
To check out today's media fun, click this link and scroll down to Section 8.
Thanks for reading today's Eight-Second Violation. Send your comments, criticism and words of praise to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
