Thursday, December 3, 2009
Daniel Motherfucking Santiago
(how am I not going to post this? I mean, Christ.)
((yea, I know, everybody's gone now. sorry. the thing's not dead yet, probably. I'm thinking I'll probably do something about the World Cup draw, possibly completely overstating its significance. And then maybe back to basketball stuff. But anyway, why are you reading this? THERE'S A VIDEO HEAVILY FEATURING DANIEL SANTIAGO JUST ABOVE THESE WORDS))
Monday, November 16, 2009
....Stephen Jackson to Charlotte
I'm not sure how this makes sense for anybody, but whatever. I think that very fact is what makes this make sense, for two franchises that have been consistently (wait for it)...nonsensical. The Bobcats are probably going to give Jack a ton of time at the '2', and that's fine, I guess, but...is this really going to help them contend? I mean, seriously? And his contract? It's pretty atrocious. And I'm not sure how this really makes Jack any happier. But whatever.
Vlad also has a pretty bad contract, and presumably he'll take the option after this season, and so the Warriors are going to have two years of a bad contract for a pretty awful player. Acie Law and Raja Bell are both nice players, I guess, and expirings, but Raja's old and Law's...not really that good, so whatever. Anyway, yea, this whole thing is pretty stupid, and the only way anyone has made any real progress out of this is if Vlad opts out, and gives the Warriors a nice bit of cap space.
Vlad also has a pretty bad contract, and presumably he'll take the option after this season, and so the Warriors are going to have two years of a bad contract for a pretty awful player. Acie Law and Raja Bell are both nice players, I guess, and expirings, but Raja's old and Law's...not really that good, so whatever. Anyway, yea, this whole thing is pretty stupid, and the only way anyone has made any real progress out of this is if Vlad opts out, and gives the Warriors a nice bit of cap space.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Byron Scott fired, and we wait
So, I have no clue what to think of this. On the one hand, I've always thought that Scott hasn't really managed this team (and specifically Paul) as he really should, and then there's also the fact that he's really pretty awful at "growing" players.
But, what the fuck are they going to do now? I mean, this isn't a good supporting cast, and it won't be for anyone. The Hornets don't have money, and so we all sort of assumed they'd just stick it out with Scott. And I have no clue who they'll turn to now. It should be...interesting. Or something.
But, what the fuck are they going to do now? I mean, this isn't a good supporting cast, and it won't be for anyone. The Hornets don't have money, and so we all sort of assumed they'd just stick it out with Scott. And I have no clue who they'll turn to now. It should be...interesting. Or something.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
No look back; this instead
A day late on the Kareem news, but obviously I, like everyone else, am going to go ahead and say that Cap is the motherfucking man, and hopefully this shit is as (relatively) easily treatable as they're making it sound.
(games happened yesterday, I was doing stuff, and didn't really watch any of them. A fuckton of games tonight, like...a bazillion good ones, too. So, yea.)
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Looking back on...stuff, where holyfuck were there a lot of points last night.
Phx 119-115 PHI, UTA 95-93 NYK, SAS 131-124 TOR, GSW 146-105 MIN, NOH 112-84 LAC.
I mean...goddamn. 6 of 10 teams ended up on at least 110 points last night.
Anyway, moving onto actually talking about the games, I didn't catch all of any of them, but did manage to catch a decent part of a couple. So, onto those.
Raptors-Spurs
So, 255 points in a game involving the Spurs. I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the apocalypse. But if we have to go out...well, that's a cool thing to have happened, right?
It was a crazy game. The Raptors shot nearly 60% from the field, went 11 of 17 from three, only committed 11 turnovers, and held the Spurs to under 50%. So, how'd they lose by 7?
They got outrebounded. By sort of a lot...against a Spurs team that mostly played without anyone over 6'9 on the floor. That's...a problem. Now, granted, one of those sub-6'9ers was DeJuan Blair, who was sent from the heavens as god's gift to rebounding. But still. Bargnani could only grab four? And he's your starting center. That's a pretty big motherfucking problem.
Now, it didn't all come down to rebounding. The Spurs did hit some shots...a lot of them, actually. They were ridiculously efficient, and a lot of that was thanks to Manu's superstar level performance. 36 points on 8 of 15 from the field (6 of 8 from three!), 4 boards, 4 blocks (!), and 8 assists. Ridiculous.
But he wasn't alone. The suddenly somewhat awesome Richard Jefferson managed 24, 8, and 7, which is like a Stephen Jackson on steroids performance (or a tired LeBron, I guess). George Hill was quite impressive at the quasi-point, getting 22 and 5 on only 2 assists. And Matt fucking Bonner got 18. I mean, if these guys can come anywhere close to this with Duncan and Parker around, it will be motherfucking scary.
On Toronto's side, Hedo and Bosh were both quite nice, and Calderon got his usual ridiculous assist count. But, you know...defense. And rebounding. That's what seperates the Raps from the top squads, and it ain't just going to show up. Playing Rasho more than 2 minutes would theoretically help, but obviously you're sacrificing offense to do that...and the question is whether it's worth it. My answer? How the fuck should I know, that's up to you, Jay Triano. Goddamn.
GSW-Minny
There's the Warriors we know and love.
Jackson with a career high 15 assists, big games from Buike, great performances from Gette and Randolph, another ridiculous shooting night from Morrow...this is how it's supposed to be.
Alright, sort of. I mean, the Wolves sort of suck, especially without Kevin Love. But if they play with this sort of energy, and focus, and...willingness to give a damn, on a regular basis...the Warriors are motherfucking scary. But will it last? Probably not.
But motherfuck, we can hope. Right? Right.
ELSEWHERE
Nash murdered Philly, Paul destroyed the Clippers, and the Knicks were involved in the night's lowest scoring game. There we go.
A few nice games tonight, and also OKC-Sac, which should be wonderfully awful/entertaining.
I mean...goddamn. 6 of 10 teams ended up on at least 110 points last night.
Anyway, moving onto actually talking about the games, I didn't catch all of any of them, but did manage to catch a decent part of a couple. So, onto those.
Raptors-Spurs
So, 255 points in a game involving the Spurs. I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the apocalypse. But if we have to go out...well, that's a cool thing to have happened, right?
It was a crazy game. The Raptors shot nearly 60% from the field, went 11 of 17 from three, only committed 11 turnovers, and held the Spurs to under 50%. So, how'd they lose by 7?
They got outrebounded. By sort of a lot...against a Spurs team that mostly played without anyone over 6'9 on the floor. That's...a problem. Now, granted, one of those sub-6'9ers was DeJuan Blair, who was sent from the heavens as god's gift to rebounding. But still. Bargnani could only grab four? And he's your starting center. That's a pretty big motherfucking problem.
Now, it didn't all come down to rebounding. The Spurs did hit some shots...a lot of them, actually. They were ridiculously efficient, and a lot of that was thanks to Manu's superstar level performance. 36 points on 8 of 15 from the field (6 of 8 from three!), 4 boards, 4 blocks (!), and 8 assists. Ridiculous.
But he wasn't alone. The suddenly somewhat awesome Richard Jefferson managed 24, 8, and 7, which is like a Stephen Jackson on steroids performance (or a tired LeBron, I guess). George Hill was quite impressive at the quasi-point, getting 22 and 5 on only 2 assists. And Matt fucking Bonner got 18. I mean, if these guys can come anywhere close to this with Duncan and Parker around, it will be motherfucking scary.
On Toronto's side, Hedo and Bosh were both quite nice, and Calderon got his usual ridiculous assist count. But, you know...defense. And rebounding. That's what seperates the Raps from the top squads, and it ain't just going to show up. Playing Rasho more than 2 minutes would theoretically help, but obviously you're sacrificing offense to do that...and the question is whether it's worth it. My answer? How the fuck should I know, that's up to you, Jay Triano. Goddamn.
GSW-Minny
There's the Warriors we know and love.
Jackson with a career high 15 assists, big games from Buike, great performances from Gette and Randolph, another ridiculous shooting night from Morrow...this is how it's supposed to be.
Alright, sort of. I mean, the Wolves sort of suck, especially without Kevin Love. But if they play with this sort of energy, and focus, and...willingness to give a damn, on a regular basis...the Warriors are motherfucking scary. But will it last? Probably not.
But motherfuck, we can hope. Right? Right.
ELSEWHERE
Nash murdered Philly, Paul destroyed the Clippers, and the Knicks were involved in the night's lowest scoring game. There we go.
A few nice games tonight, and also OKC-Sac, which should be wonderfully awful/entertaining.
Monday, November 9, 2009
only kind of looking back, last weekend's games, stuff
Alright, so I really didn't watch much basketball this weekend, and when you consider the fact that watching part of the GSW-Kings game probably made me considerably dumber, you can understand that I'll only have a few words to say about the Raps' win over the Hornets on Friday. But, here you go.
RAPTORS AND HORNETS
I sort of dig this matchup, at least theoretically, as I've always thought the Calderon-Paul battle at point seems interesting. And it was, with both guys turning in very good performances on Friday, although they differed simply because of the nature of their roles on their respective teams. Calderon was mostly a facilitator, getting 8 assists but also doing well to initiate the offense throughout the game. Sure, he ended up with 16 points, but I got the feeling that those weren't points he actively tried to get...if that makes sense. They just sort of came in the offense, as everything else he does seems to. Zero turnovers on those eight assists, and six of eleven shooting meant he had a pretty crazy efficient game.
Paul was everything for New Orleans, as he pretty much always is. Sure, Okafor and West, possibly even a guard or two, may occasionally contribute, but ultimately this team will always rely heavily on Paul's contribution. And at 21 points, 18 assists, 8-13 shooting, and just 1 turnover...what the fuck more can the guy do? He's setting up EVERYTHING for this team, and the inability of the rest of the guys to create is what really seems to make this offense so stagnant at times. And that's what really has made the Hornets such an average team, and one that's playing below even their modest expectations. There's no way Paul's not frustrated at this point.
Whereas Paul had/has very little help, Calderon was able to rely on the contributions of Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu, who combined for 43 points on the night. The Raptors have been playing quite well so far, and to me they've looked like a team that could well go into the second round and be a problem for one of the "big three".
And there we go, another frustrating night from the Paulettes, and another loss for the Hornets, who are now 2-5.
Elsewhere, OKC beat down Orlando, Sacramento somehow managed to win both legs of a back to back, and the Blazers seemingly got their shit together. A few games tonight, including a somewhat intriguing matchup between Toronto and San Antonio.
RAPTORS AND HORNETS
I sort of dig this matchup, at least theoretically, as I've always thought the Calderon-Paul battle at point seems interesting. And it was, with both guys turning in very good performances on Friday, although they differed simply because of the nature of their roles on their respective teams. Calderon was mostly a facilitator, getting 8 assists but also doing well to initiate the offense throughout the game. Sure, he ended up with 16 points, but I got the feeling that those weren't points he actively tried to get...if that makes sense. They just sort of came in the offense, as everything else he does seems to. Zero turnovers on those eight assists, and six of eleven shooting meant he had a pretty crazy efficient game.
Paul was everything for New Orleans, as he pretty much always is. Sure, Okafor and West, possibly even a guard or two, may occasionally contribute, but ultimately this team will always rely heavily on Paul's contribution. And at 21 points, 18 assists, 8-13 shooting, and just 1 turnover...what the fuck more can the guy do? He's setting up EVERYTHING for this team, and the inability of the rest of the guys to create is what really seems to make this offense so stagnant at times. And that's what really has made the Hornets such an average team, and one that's playing below even their modest expectations. There's no way Paul's not frustrated at this point.
Whereas Paul had/has very little help, Calderon was able to rely on the contributions of Chris Bosh and Hedo Turkoglu, who combined for 43 points on the night. The Raptors have been playing quite well so far, and to me they've looked like a team that could well go into the second round and be a problem for one of the "big three".
And there we go, another frustrating night from the Paulettes, and another loss for the Hornets, who are now 2-5.
Elsewhere, OKC beat down Orlando, Sacramento somehow managed to win both legs of a back to back, and the Blazers seemingly got their shit together. A few games tonight, including a somewhat intriguing matchup between Toronto and San Antonio.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Not really looking back
...but this image will probably suffice in summarizing Cleveland's offense last night, and for the majority of the early part of this season
Anyway, lots of games tonight/this weekend, and I'm not sure if I'll try to get something up before Monday. Maybe. But maybe not. But, you know. Wait. No, you don't, because I don't. What?
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