Here's to a big season- the NBA smack thread 2010/11

[Steven S. Dallas]

Especially because it exposed what a scrub Stoudemire is on the boards. Amare's an athlete and he get shown up by Love.

I think Amar'e sat nearly the entire third quarter, which is when Love really went nuts. Can't put up numbers if you're not in the game.

Love's play during the FIBAs was so reminiscent of the '80s fast break style that Bird and Parish mastered and was really fun to watch if you care about more than SportsCenter-type highlights. Backspin and sidespin on long outlet passes that wind up hitting the breaking player perfectly in stride and right in the bread basket, just awesome.

[Mach Looney]

I can barely stomach GK's coaching anymore. JR's worried about getting pulled if he misses a shot meanwhile CB thinks it's ok to not run the offense and jack up bricks 3 seconds into the shot clock.

JR's temporarily overcorrecting and being too unselfish because of Karl, but he'll find a balance between this and being a pure gunner which will ultimately benefit the team. Or else Karl will have succeeded in beating his game out of him. Free JR Swish!

[AKbruin]

I think Amar'e sat nearly the entire third quarter, which is when Love really went nuts. Can't put up numbers if you're not in the game.

Hmmm, I guess D'Antoni took a page out of the Kurt Rambis playbook of severely limiting the minutes of your best player (Love).

My hope is that Love and Mbah a Moute will eventually join Westbrook and Durant in OKC (preferably the Warriors, but that is happening) and then trounce the Rose and Noah led Bulls in a championship game, redeeming the overly talented UCLA teams of the mid-2000s against their college nemesi. (I went to grad school at UT, so I root for Durant as well.)

[Mgof]

Just got back from the AAC and the Mavs/Hornets game. First off, without looking at numbers, it seemed like Paul, Stojakovic, and West missed all of 3 shots combined the whole game. Good job by the Matrix on Ariza or the Mavs would've gotten blown out. Jet went off and along with Barea and Chandler helped us stay in it. Dirk and Kidd hit 3's to tie and lead and the Mavs played awesome D the last 6'ish minutes to pull out a big win.

Second, the hornets are frickin' good. Paul goes wherever he wants, Peja hits everything, and West can be a beast. Still, no shot against the Lakeshow IMO. My Mavs turned up the defensive intensity in the 4th and held NOLA to 95 for the game which I like, but we still perimeter pass/jump shoot too much without any dribble penetration or dump down low. Barea and Chandler (and hopefully Roddy B when he returns) really have to pull threw on that last point. I love NBA b-ball...

[The Reverend Floater]

30pts for Wes Mathews tonight while Roy sits out.

[spook]

sam bowie redux..

Breaking news: Blazers Greg Oden faces another microfracture surgery

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/in..._greg_ode.html

[The Reverend Floater]

My life is over.

[concretejungle]

Sorry Rev. I know I talk a ton of shit about the Blazers and Oden but you can't say that he doesn't want to be out there helping his team.

[Platinum Pete]

Sorry Rev. I know I talk a ton of shit about the Blazers and Oden but you can't say that he doesn't want to be out there helping his team.

My heart aches for Oden, there are rumors that he struggles with depression and drinking, this set back - with his contract finished - has got to be the darkest of times for him. Sure he's been fragile and broken, but he's also been a pretty good guy; you hate to see the nice guys go down.
Brandon Roy is a much, much bigger loss to the Blazers and I truly worry about the franchise if he cannot find a medical miracle for his knees. Roy is another great guy who you just hate to see fall. Wesley Matthews has been incredible with Roy out, we'd be in deep shit without him, but it is going to take a lot more to replace our franchise player.
The season is not over, the hope is not lost, the potential is still there for a playoff run, but without Roy we are not "on the verge" like we were.

[digitaldeath]

luxury box tix for twolves lakers tonight BABY

wooohooooo

[Woodsy]

I hope Love fires one of his cannonball outlet passes right to your yambag.

[str8line]

My heart aches for Oden, there are rumors that he struggles with depression and drinking, this set back - with his contract finished - has got to be the darkest of times for him. Sure he's been fragile and broken, but he's also been a pretty good guy; you hate to see the nice guys go down.

He needs to just retire and get into helping kids or coaching. The sooner he moves on the better for his sanity.

Spurs made the Jazz look average tonight.

OKC win over Celtics without Durant is huge.

[concretejungle]

Free JR Swish/Knucklehead.

[AKbruin]

I haven't always been a fan, but Monta Ellis should be an all-star this season.

[str8line]

Comeback Kids do it again on the road! On a back to backer vs. Portland no less.

-21/21 from the line as a team
-CJ Miles 7/7 3pt.
-A. Jefferson 20 Pts, 14 Reb, 2 Ast, 1 Stl, 2 Blk

[Steven S. Dallas]

Poor Timofey and Danilo (Blake Griffin related).

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QhnHkVpkgM"]YouTube - Blake Griffin's Dunkfest vs NY Knicks[/nomedia]

[SchralphMacchio]

Two words: Pau Gasol. Fingers crossed the Lakers go into Xmas with a 800 record!!!

[Arty50]

He's been monstrous so far. That said, they really need Bynum to get back. Pau is playing huge minutes, and if they don't scale that back in a few months it's going to take it's toll at the end of the season.

On the flip side, there's Odom. He's been killing it too. If he's coming off the bench, his impact will be diminished a bit. But it's a tradeoff you have to make because he and Pau can't sustain this workload all season.

Not that Bynum is chopped liver. His defensive presence is huge, and he gives you tons of rebounds and a high percentage scoring option. There's no way we would have won the title last year without him. Even at 40%, his impact was huge. No matter how good Pau is, there's only so much you can do when you run into the wall of Garnett and Perkins. He and Odom just don't match up well against them. Bynum changes that dynamic drastically.

[SchralphMacchio]

Yeah, definitely agree on all accounts there. Odom's head has always been his issue, and he's dialed right now. Hope he can keep it up.

[str8line]

Jazz come back from 19 down to beat the mighty Lakers after dismantling the Hornets Wednesday night. All these tough wins against tough teams this season without Mehmet Okur, who will be back soon. D-Will is a fucking mensch. He is simply carrying this team. He's beat up and playing huge minutes though(most in the NBA).

Anyone want to doubt the Jazz?

[Woodsy]

to hop on Gord mans point

Deron Williams hit 10-of-14 shots and three 3-pointers on his way to 29 points, 12 assists and two steals as the Jazz beat the Lakers, overcoming a 19-point deficit in the process
suck it Lakers
suck it hard
Jefferson is just getting better as he gets more familiar with the offense and gets more confidence.
when the Turkish assasin comes back and opens up the spacing (you gotta krep a big on him or he will kill you from outside) Al is gonna explode
fuck it we can go super big with him AND Millsap in with Okur

[AKbruin]

As good as Paul and Williams are, Westbrook and Rose could challenge them among the top PGs in a year or two. Which is another way of saying that the league is stacked with amazing PGs right now.

[basom]

^^

not to take anything away from d rose, as he is no doubt on his way to elite status if he is not already there, but tyreke is hurting pretty bad in the foot department these days. i'm not sure rose would make him look so helpless had Evans been fully healthy. this was the blurb on him right before they played that game, from a fantasy news outlet:

Tyreke Evans is battling two sore ankles and a lingering case of plantar fasciitis, but he said he has no intention of sitting out any games.
"It's pretty bad when I wake up in the morning, but once I get loose and start running, it loosens up," Evans said. "But when I sit down for a while, it stiffens up." He receives treatment daily and is looking into laser therapy, but has been told that it "will linger before it heals." Fantasy owners are frustrated with the lack of production, obviously, and may want to start quietly testing the trade market for Sacramento's ailing star.

[AKbruin]

Fact: Russell Westbrook is the greatest player of all time in any sport.

His numbers last night: 38 Pts, 15 Reb, 9 Ast, 3 Stl and all 13 points in the 3rd overtime. He also did this:

Pretty crazy for a PG to grab 15 rebounds and a putback dunk against centers and power forwards at 6'3".

Gotta love Durant too:

On Twitter last night, someone said at Kevin Durant that he’s the second best player on the Thunder now. Durant’s response: “I’m cool with that!” He also tweeted, “It’s all about wins at the end of the day plus he’s my teammate I’m happy whenever he plays well! I jus wanna win thas all.”

(IMO, Durant is still the best player on the Thunder, but it's now a two superstar team.)

[basom]

i love the thunder. so much fun. westbrook is carrying my fantasy team, the dude is a beast. i also have jeff green, who has been solid save for his dumb sprained ankle... he's back on track now, as demonstrated by his monster line last night (obviously the game went to 3 overtimes and durant was a DNP so the box is heavily skewed not only for green but westbrook too)