Looking back on...stuff, featuring...the Wrong Way

Lots of games, lots of interesting games, and lots of interesting stuff. And what am I going to rant at you about? The Warriors' win over the Grizzlies. Oh hell yes.



Grizz-GSW

Two teams that will never, ever be said to play fundamental basketball. And we love them for it.

But you know what? This one wasn't particularly...out of control? It was like these teams had sought help for their wrong way-itis, and sure...it wasn't completely effective, but it kind of helped. There were actually a lot of assists dished out during the game (fifty-three in total), and though that was partially because of less than stellar defense...the guys on the floor showed a willingness to avoid "chucking" in a particularly egregious manner. And that was nice.

Oh, anyway, summarizing the game. Nellie went Curry-Monta-Azubuike-Jackson-Biedrins to start. And then Biedrins got three fouls in the first few minutes, and Mikki Moore had to come in, and...well, that team mos def wasn't getting any motherfucking rebounds. But they weren't really scoring, either, and then with the Grizzlies getting off to a pretty decent start shooting...it wasn't great for Golden State. AI came off the bench firing, and was hitting at a pretty nice rate. He ended up with 17 and 7, and is...presumably angry about not starting, or something. But he played well, did what he's sort of meant to do for them, and you can't really fault his performance in this game. Him and Gay were the impetus for the Grizzlies getting out to a pretty nice lead early on.

But the Warriors got back into, and eventually took over the game through strong efforts from Corey Maggette and Anthony Morrow, particularly the latter, whose strong third quarter really helped in separating the two teams after the half. I should also mention that although the shots weren't really falling for Ellis and Jackson, they both did a good job of instigating the offense and really creating chances for teammates. Stephen Curry, too, who somewhat impressed me with his ability to do things other than shoot. But then again, they were playing the Grizzlies.

Anyway, all we can take from this game is that Nellie must REALLY hate Anthony Randolph (who only got in seven minutes), and that we weren't wrong in saying that the Warriors can sometimes be pretty dangerous. Sometimes.

Elsewhere The Lakers managed to beat Houston in overtime, behind a big effort from Kobe, and the Hornets also got an overtime win, mostly thanks to the awesomeness of Chris Paul. And, alright, Peja made a game tying three at the end of regulation. There. I said it. Dwyane Wade pretty much murdered Gilbert and the 'Zards, who couldn't pull off the win after coming back from eighteen down early on. Also? Other stuff.

Just the two games tonight which is...a change of pace. Bulls-Cavs, which seems to end up on TV approximately seventy-six times a season, and Spurs-Jazz. No idea what to expect, really, but...TNT, tonight! If nothing else...Barkley will be there(but so will Reggie Miller).

Amigos' NBA Previews- Atlanta Hawks

Recent Past: After years of post 'Nique(and later)Dike' sucktitutde, the Hawks managed to make it to the playoffs in 07-08, albeit with a losing record. They proceeded to take the Celtics to game seven, in a series that probably seemed more dramatic than it actually was (they got killed in every road game, and managed to squeak out the home games). This seemed to sort of give the team a newly found meaning, and last season they almost got to the 50 win mark, finishing fourth in the East in the process. They won a seven-gamer against Miami, in a series that (you might recall) had us all questioning our will to live. They probably deserved to get swept against Cleveland, just for putting us through that shit. And on that note, let's just move on...

Offseason: They managed to get Jamal Crawford for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton, which was pretty awesome. Obviously, there were mitigating circumstances on GSW's end, but this is definitely an upgrade over Flip Murray, in what ought to be pretty much the same role. Other than that, they didn't really do anything.

Probable Lineup: Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, Al Horford. Jamal Crawford, Joe Smith, and Zaza Pachulia as key subs.

General Outlook: ...does it seem weird to anyone else that the Hawks are a genuinely good team now? I mean, they aren't going to win a title, but they're sort of like an Eastern Conference Utah Jazz (perhaps not as good). This just doesn't sit well with me, and my first reaction is to expect them to somehow become a disaster. But, you look at this roster, and barring some weird injury mess, it just doesn't look like one that's going to fail. Bibby had a somewhat resurgent season last time out, and I guess it wouldn't be shocking if he got worse/hurt/traded, but none of the other players look real likely to have anything mess with their season. They're just a really solid squad, without a real star, but their starting five doesn't have a true weak link, if we assume Marvin Williams will at least sustain the improvement he made last season. Somehow Joe Johnson's considered an All-Star now, and, as the joke goes, he's so often been referred to as underrated that he's now overrated. But that's fine; it's sort of just cool that there's a player on the Hawks that people are willing to look at as an All-Star. And you add in Josh Smith's general coolness, Jamal Crawford's potential to go for 50 points in any game, and the running "Marvin Williams is not Chris Paul" storyline, and this is a somewhat captivating team.

They really lack meaningful depth beyond the eight I listed before, and if anything happens with Bibby they'll have to fuck around with Crawford at point. And, well, that's probably not a good thing. Johnson and Smith will likely have to play big minutes again this season, as outside of Crawford they really lack a non-big to come off the bench. The Joe Smith signing could help, in that they may be able to work out the rotation with Marvin and Josh Smith (and even Johnson) so that they'll not have to play ridiculous minutes. This is assuming Joe Smith still has nothing left. Honestly, I have no clue, but he was decent enough for Cleveland last year, and let's just sort of assume he can do that again. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how Mike Woodson deals with that rotation, and if he can make it really work for him. Because those eight are all pretty good, and if that can last for 82+ the playoffs they could be looking at 50 wins and another shot at the second round. Of course, if they fuck around and have a couple injuries, or just have a player or two fall off a bit, they could be down around the seven or eight spot in a weirdly-deep (but still not really that good) Eastern Conference.

If they were a hip hop act: Little Brother. The Hawks are quite good, probably in the NBA's top 10 teams, but like Little Brother, people only sort of pay attention to them, and in the end you get the feeling all the pieces will end up leaving before they really make it big.

Guessing how they'll do: I don't know. I guess I'll put them in the four spot in the east, and then they're probably pretty iffy for the second round, depending on the opponent. Not exactly an "out there" prediction, I know.

24 days (this is getting tedious)

(two number 24s! Hell yes!)

((wait. does that mean there's 48 days now? hopefully not))

(((by the way, I've somewhat definitely decided I'll be starting the team by team previews eight days from now, and do them two at a time. So, if you want to read previews of every team after most of them have already been done by someone else, you know where to go)))

27!

(28)

(First, I'd like to tell the Golden State Warriors to motherfucking work it out. haven't they already had enough dysfunction for the next...century, or something? Just give us a bunch of 130-125 games, and perhaps a run at a playoff spot. Please?)

Less Than a Month. Hurray!

Alright, look. I don't know if anyone that was reading this stuff is still going to be reading this stuff. Not that there were ever a lot of people reading this stuff (but a few, at least). And I don't know how regular I'll be with this posting mess. But this shit ain't dead. Yet. And so, on this, the 28th of September, we celebrate. For it is less than a month until the NBA's regular season starts. Now, you may be asking yourself, "shouldn't he have posted when it was actually a month until the season starts?" And my reply would be: shut up.

In the meantime, there's still not that much to say, but perhaps I'll manage to get a few things up soon. I do plan on doing team by team previews, two at a time, starting...I don't know, I'll figure it out. It will be awesome. Alright, perhaps not awesome, but...acceptable, yes? And, really, if you're reading this, you're probably pretty fine with acceptable.

And now, as by my count there are 29 days until the season starts, I give you the greatest number 29 in NBA history:



(oof)