| 25 January 2009
Significant Set Backs and Injuries?
By Zach Harper
Back from Las Vegas
As many people have let me know over the last week, there hasn't been much posted on here and we haven't had an ESV in a long while. They've told me this because it's true. I went to Vegas over MLK weekend and had a great time. In fact, it was too good of a time because I was worn down when I came back and I became sick throughout much of last week. In fact, I'm still a little sick. But I'm playing through it like Kobe with a bad finger or two. So we're back and ready to give you our opinion on everything basketball.
Michael Redd Out for the Year
We received word yesterday that vibrated through the internets that Michael Redd is out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee. It comes as a huge blow to the Milwaukee Bucks and their fans who were enjoying a surprising season with an infusion of good, young role players.
I really feel bad for Michael Redd with this injury. I've been pretty tough on Michael Redd over the past couple of years because I felt he was living off of reputation and not performing up to his paycheck. And he started out slow this season and looked to be another overpaid player on a sub .500 team. And then 2009 hit us in the face like a Dikembe Mutombo elbow and all of a sudden the high-scoring, sleek-shooting Michael Redd was back with us. He averaged over 25 points per game for the month of January and had his Bucks team playing extremely well until he came down on Luke Ridnour foot Saturday, which caused the injury and is now shelving the Bucks' best player for the rest of the season.
You have to feel terrible for the Bucks and their fans who have thrived under Scott Skiles with a team who doesn't have the talent to warrant that kind of production. It won't kill this Bucks teams' playoff hopes immediately and they'll just have to hope that Andrew Bogut stays healthy and Richard Jefferson can play like a leader and an All-Star the rest of the season. But it really puts a damper on a team and its fan base that was having a nice, surprising season. 
Let's Recap All of the Games from Last Night
By Zach Harper
There seems to be some happy sentiment towards the covering of every game in a brief recap. So we'll stick with that for now. Here are the games from last night:
Boston Celtics 124, Dallas Mavericks 100 in Boston-
The Dallas Mavericks battled hard in the second half of yesterday's ball game to win both the third and fourth quarter by a total of three points against one of the best second half teams in the league. Unfortunately, they were down 27 at halftime and never were really in this game. The Celtics jumped all over the Mavs early in this game, shut down the Dallas starters, and cruised through much of this game. The Boston bench scored 49 points as the Celtics poured in their second highest point total of the season.
Los Angeles Lakers 99, San Antonio Spurs 85 in Los Angeles-
Finally sporting a full, healthy roster, the Lakers used their depth, defense, and versatility to turn a hard-fought first half into a comfortable double-digit lead going into the fourth quarter. Even with a lot of time left in the final period, the majority of the Lakers featured players had ice wraps on their knees and were trying to figure out if Josh Powell and Chris Mihm could score a bucket. The Spurs shot just 37.5% from the field and gave up a combined 31 points to Trevor Ariza and Sasha Vujacic off the bench for the Lakers. LA's 35th win gives them the second highest win total in the league behind Boston.
Phoenix Suns 104, Atlanta Hawks 99 in Atlanta-
When Mike Bibby hit a three off a pass from Joe Johnson with 6:48 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Hawks had cut the Suns lead to one and would soon take the lead on a Solomon Jones dunk. But Jones would be the only player to score the rest of the game for the Hawks and he only managed six points during that time. The Hawks missed nine of their 11 shots in the final 6:48 of the fourth as the Suns stole a much-needed win on the road. Steve Nash ended with 14 points and 13 assists and Shaq had 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Toronto Raptors 113, Sacramento Kings 97 in Toronto-
The key to beating this sometimes (rarely) scrappy Kings team is catching them coming out of halftime without much fire in their movement. The Kings were the second worst third quarter team going into yesterday's action and the Raptors continued the trend by outscoring Sacramento 31-21 in the period to take command of the game and get just their ninth win in 21 home games this season. Jose Calderon returned to the Raps lineup and finished with 16 points and eight assists in 27 minutes.
Houston Rockets 108, Detroit Pistons 105 in Detroit-
When Ron Artest comes to Detroit, bad things are expected to happen to the people of Detroit. Sunday was no different with Ron Artest scoring 24 points and knocking down four three-pointers as the Rockets won on the road without Yao Ming. The Rockets has six players in double figures including all five starters. Richard Hamilton had 27 points off the bench in his new role for the Pistons but Detroit's 31 team assists couldn't best the 12 three-pointers made by the Rockets as Houston won for 13th time in 25 road games this season.
Indiana Pacers 98, Charlotte Bobcats 93 in Indianapolis-
The Bobcats were annihilated on the boards by the Pacers with a 52-37 drubbing and the Pacers won their second game in a row for just the fifth time this season. Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster combined for 27 rebounds with 10 of Foster's 13 coming at the offensive end of the floor. The NBA's fourth leading scorer, Danny Granger, dropped 27 points and the Pacers held the Bobs scoreless over the final 1:24 of the game. The Pacers won their 11th game in 20 tries at home.
Minnesota Timberwolves 109, Chicago Bulls 108 OT in Minneapolis-
When Al Jefferson walks onto the court, he looks like a cat with his facial features. When he plays like he did against the Bulls on Sunday, he looks like a damn big cat. In the fourth quarter and at the end of overtime, the Bulls executed about as well as a drunken softball team trying to pull off a suicide squeeze in between keg stands. Jefferson continually killed Joakim Noah in the post and the Bulls couldn't figure out how to exploit the Derrick Rose-Sebastian Telfair match-up. Welcome to Vinny Del Negro, Bulls fans. Kevin Love came off the bench to change the fortunes of the Wolves for the better with a 19-point, 15-rebound performance.
Denver Nuggets 117, Utah Jazz 97 in Denver-
Nene didn't miss a single field goal attempt, Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith both scored 22 points, and the Nuggets rolled over their Northwestern Division rival. The Nuggets won for the fifth time in eight games since Carmelo Anthony went down with a broken hand. Denver survived 21 offensive rebounds by the Jazz and took advantage of 20 Utah turnovers to win their 29th game of the season. Nene finished with 28 points and joined Bobby Jones in the record for most field goals made without missing in an NBA game.
Golden State Warriors 107, Los Angeles Clippers 92 in Oakland-
The Los Angeles Clippers continued to be the most pathetic team in the NBA by getting beaten down by a team that allows the most points in the league. DeAndre Jordan had 20 rebounds for the Clippers, two games after helping to give up 42 points to Andrew Bynum, but his
dominance on the boards couldn't make enough of a difference to overcome a 37.9% shooting performance by LA's second team. Monta Ellis scored 10 points in his second game back from his ankle injury. He was 4-11 from the field and had three assists. 
Atlanta Hawks (26-17) at Miami Heat (23-19) 4:30pm PST on League Pass
By Zach Harper
With the Atlanta Hawks coming off of a frustrating loss to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday afternoon, you get the feeling that their showdown in Miami against the Heat could go one of two ways. 1) The Hawks could come on firing on all cylinders and taking advantage of the lack of depth and height in the frontcourt for the Heat and attack the basket all night long like they're playing NBA Jam. Or 2) the Hawks could be too tired, frustrated, and/or motivated to stop the Heat and allow Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley to get whatever they want on the floor.
The Hawks have been terribly inconsistent on the road this year in posting a 9-12 record. They haven't won consecutive games on the road since they took out the then-lowly OKC Thunder after beating the Hornets in N'awlins. Recently, they've beaten a tough Bulls team on the road but only after losing to the Warriors in Oakland. They've taken the Clippers to the wood shed at Staples but only after losing to those same Phoenix Suns on Planet Orange. The Hawks will need to pound the ball inside and attack the basket since Miami won't have anyone competent over 6'8" playing in the middle. If they settle for jumpshots all night and rely on perimeter scoring, you can expect more stretches like the final 6+ minutes against the Suns from yesterday.
For Miami, they're coming off of a big interstate victory over the Orlando Magic. The Heat were up comfortable after three quarters against Orlando and almost blew the game before sending the Magic to their second straight loss. Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers wreaked havoc on the court all night and eventually put the game away. To win this game, Miami is once again going to have to rely heavily on their star shooting guard to carry them past a talented Hawks team. Defense will also be key with the Heat not giving up 100 points at home to an opponent since the Rockets scored 107 on November 24th.
Key Match-Up: Joe Johnson versus Dwyane Wade
Forget the stats. Forget the analysis. It's match-ups like this that make NBA League Pass worth the money. Watching two of the best shooting guards in the game going at it, guarding each other throughout the game, and trying to lead their teams to victory due to sheer will and talent is going to be quite the show.
Prediction: I think the Heat hold their homecourt again and send the Hawks to their 13th road loss of the season.
How about you get caught up in some Face Stepping?
By Zach Harper
Oddly enough, my mom sent this to me in an email to me yesterday and asked if I had seen this. My own mother. She's not exactly on top of the latest sports news and I once tried to explain to her what a pick-and-roll was and it felt like I was trying to explain the DaVinci Code to her. But the fact that she had seen this before made me feel like I definitely needed to get over this sickness and get back to the grind.
How did she see it before me? The only thing I can come up with was that it was on the front page of Yahoo! as the lead story during a period of time when she was logging into her email.
But anyway, this is some entertaining Chase Budinger face-stepping. Here's the link to the incredible and mighty MJD who had this on The Dagger. Now, maybe Aubrey Coleman thought that it was acceptable to go all Jim Carrey in The Cable Guy and step on somebody because he thought they were playing prison rules. I simply don't know. What I do know is Chase Budinger is probably wishing that he had stayed in last summer's NBA Draft.
By Zach Harper
"'I've got a lottery ticket already. That's my man. I knew him when he had a jean jacket." -- Paul Pierce when asked it was suggested he should get a lottery ticket since everything is going right for the Celtics right now.
Not only are the Celtics back to playing fantastic basketball right now and taking back their top spot in the league during this current eight-game winning streak, but they're even back to having fun and entertaining post-game press conferences. When I read this quote, I was dumbfounded because all I could think of was getting a Photoshop'd picture of Kevin Garnett in jeans and a denim jacket. I wanted it to look like one of the outfits Will Smith would have worn on the early seasons of Fresh Prince when high fades were tall and neon colors were socially acceptable to wear. Maybe, Wade from Both Teams Played Hard can get this done for me.
Top 3 of the Night
1. Nene Hilario - 28 pts, 9 rebs, 4 stls, 12-12 fg
Nene tied the record for most field goals makes in a game without missing. His 12 for 12 effort bested teammate, Kenyon Martin's effort from a few years ago and tied Bobby Jones record. He absolutely destroyed Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur in the post and was set up perfectly all night by the Nuggets' guards. He's now shooting an unofficial 98% on the season from the field.
2. Al Jefferson - 39 pts, 9 rebs, 16-29 fg
Watching Al Jefferson get double-teamed in the post and either turn it over from not passing it out or passing it out far too late for his teammates to get a good shot is extremely frustrating and makes me hate the Kevin Garnett trade even more (I can't let this go). But watching Joakim Noah trying to cover him one-on-one in the post makes me think that this franchise is going to be just fine in the long run (assuming Kevin McHale gets shipped out on a bed of ice).
3. Ron Artest - 24 pts, 9 rebs, 4-9 3fg
Not only did he taunt the crowd by flexing towards them (the re apparently is history there), but Ron Artest shot extremely well from the field (for a guy that has killed one of my fantasy teams all season) and even hit four threes. Artest stepped up nicely in Yao Ming's absence and even allowed Tracy McGrady to not have to do a whole lot on the floor.
Bottom 3 of the Night
1. Whoever Has to Keep Tract of Eddie House Lately - A lot of threes given up
This is mainly directed at the folks in Miami and Dallas who were supposed to keep an eye on Eddie House and not let him catch the ball whilst wide-open on the perimeter. Everybody knows that Eddie has the shot off before he even catches the ball with his quick release. Well, in two of his last three games he's made 14 three-pointers in 22 attempts. 14!!!! What in the name of Dana Barros is going on here?
2. Mike Bibby - 5 pts, 6 asts, 2-13 fg, 1-7 3fg
Is it a given now that if Mike Bibby has a terrible game then it's a lock to going into this section no matter what? Absolutely. Is it unfair? To some degree. Will I ever feel guilty about it? Never. Mike Bibby is an a-hole.
3. Gerald Wallace - 10 pts, 5 rebs, 1-8 fg
Gerald Wallace went up against one of the worst defensive teams in the league and couldn't make more than one basket. I get the feeling that this reckless abandonment that GW tends to play with on the court happens in other walks of life for him. Does he crash into the kitchen table at full speed in the morning when he takes his breakfast? Are there Frankenberries everywhere after he eats cereal because he tries to eat them at full speed?
Here are the Top Blog Posts from yesterday.
1. From Free Darko-
Monta, Nuggets, Shoals
2. From NBA Noise-
Stu's Mid-Season Awards
3. From Hardwood Paroxysm-
Rob Mahoney on Michael Redd's Injury
In today's Ask a Blogger, we're talking to Ty from Bucks' Diary, one of the best Bucks blogs on the interwebs and one of the newest members to the MVN fam. Unfortunately, I got these answers well before the Michael Redd injury and didn't post them because of my Vegas recovery. So assume that all of Ty's great answers are pre-Redd destruction. Read on:
1. As they stand right now, the Milwaukee Bucks are 20-24 and a half game out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. With the current state of the Eastern Conference, do you feel that the Bucks will make the playoffs as-is or if not, what do they need to accomplish to from now until the regular season to make the post-season for the first time in four seasons?
I think the Bucks can and will make the play-offs, barring injury. I would be very disappointed if they did not. Of course, they are thin at all three of the frontline positions, especially at center, so any serious injury... beyond Bogut's nagging back... would derail them in a second. But that's probably the case for 90% of the NBA's teams. Everyone relies heavily on their key personnel.
2. Looking back on the Richard Jefferson acquisition, are you happy with the trade and how has it changed this Bucks team from last season's team?
There are two dimensions to that question... the first being what the Bucks got, and the second being what they gave up. To the first part, I am generally satisfied with Richard Jefferson as a player. He's been average, and with the distribution of talent in the NBA, average is good. But he's certainly not the RJ of 3 years ago. And there's no way the Bucks can carry his overpriced salary much beyond this season. So I see him as something of a stop gap. To the second part, am I sorry we gave up Yi Jianlian? Not one bit. Last season he was awful, and this season, for New Jersey, he's just been merely bad. His fundamental problem is he's not physical enough to play power forward and yet he's not quick enough to play small forward either. You cannot build around players like that. You have to get rebounding and efficient scoring from the 4 position, and on most nights Yi just doesn't provide that.
3. Since there have been trade rumors running rampant involving Bucks players and Mike Conley, I'll pose this question to you. The Bucks have four really promising young role players in Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Ramon Sessions, Joe Alexander, and Charlie Villanueva. You can only keep two of them. Who are you keeping and why?
Oh, that's easy. Moute and Sessions... although the Bucks brass might have the opposite answer (but maybe not). I generally base my player evaluations on the Win Score efficiency metric, and by that measure, Moute and Sessions are the superior players. They have both been consistent win producers whereas Villanueva has been below average throughout his career, and Joe Alexander has been brutal in his rookie campaign. I might have second thoughts about giving up Villanueva (he's at least shown some potential) but not Alexander. He doesn't project well at all. He wasn't even that productive as a collegian.
Thanks for reading today's Eight-Second Violation. Any comments, criticisms, or words of praise can be emailed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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