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Eureljus Zukauskas has a long wingspan. Brandan Wright has a longer one. Guess who wins on a dunk attempt?
breaking down the nba like craig sager's suits: colorfully
Eureljus Zukauskas has a long wingspan. Brandan Wright has a longer one. Guess who wins on a dunk attempt?
Atlanta 103, Minnesota 77: Like Kevin Garnett, Al Jefferson learns what it's like to be the Timberwolves' most productive player, to play his guts out, and still lose by 26. Jefferson scores 20 and grabs 15 rebounds, but the rest of his team shoots 33.3% in a loss to the Hawks. Eight players on Atlanta ended up with at least 9 points, with Zaza Pachulia leading the way with 16 points in 19 minutes.
Is Sager's Tailor a prophet? Undoubtedly. Tailor managed to predict that Ric Bucher's face was about to be plastered all over ESPN today, dispelling a rumor that Kobe Bryant had cleared out his locker in anticipation of a trade. Kobe had apparently only removed a couple items from his locker, and that was enough to give the story a massive amount of pub.
Labels: kobe is going to chicago, ric bucher is going to lose it soon, trade rumors from hell
Remember when you were a kid, saw a power hitter like David Ortiz or Barry Bonds, and asked your Dad if he could have someone run in his place immediately after hitting the ball? Well Yao Ming is on the wrong end of the basketball equivalent of a pinch-runner during practice, as Rick Adelman sends Dikembe Mutombo to guard him on defense, and makes him guard Jackie Butler on defense. Thing is, aren't there better players to choose to be a designated defender? And while we're at it, aren't there better players to select as designated scorer? Yao's practice competition consists of a 41 year old plus a guy who isn't even guaranteed to make the roster. Good idea, but the personnel could use a makeover.
Golden State 107, Zalgiris Kaunas 88: While Craig Sager works his magic in Colorado, DCSS was wearing its yellow, green, and red. Stephen Jackson and Baron Davis play about 20 minutes each, and both just toy around with the Lithuanian squad. Jackson ended up with 20 points, and Davis ended up with 11 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds. Rookie Marco Belinelli played all 48 minutes, and after starting off very passively (driving and passing the ball out to the top of the key instead of trying to finish, passing up open shots, etc.), only began to show confidence in his shot after Don Nelson called a play for him following a timeout. After starting off shooting 1/6 from the field, Belinelli finished by shooting 6/11, picking up 19 points on the night. The rookie has a very crisp shooting stroke, and squares up coming off a screen very well, but don't ask the guy to handle the ball. Overall, is he a decent rookie with potential to be a consistent scorer? Sure. Will he be replacing Jason Richardson's all-around excellent offense? Not a chance.
It's times like this that make me wish Dick Bavetta would get involved with the mob and bet on some games. All off season long it's been non-stop trade demands, and I'm sick of it. Pay me millions of dollars and I'll go cut grass with child proof scissors, let alone play basketball anywhere. You know things are out of hand when Juwan Howard thinks he's good enough to dictate where he goes. "I want to play for a winning team." Juwan - if a team needs you bad enough to trade for you, they aren't winning anything anytime soon.
Portland 102, Atlanta 89: The Hawks are 3-0 with Acie Law and 0-1 without him, though their defense was just as bad as their offense. Atlanta let LaMarcus Aldridge gave free offensive rebounds en route to his 29 points, and Channing Frye scored 14. Meanwhile, Hawk fans now begin to remember what losing feels like, and instead, focus on Al Horford's double-double.
NBA Europe Live held one game in London, featuring Minnesota and Boston. And there's absolutely no way that England should ever receive an NBA game ever again, no matter how ready Ray Allen thinks they may be. Why? Because the Brits did the freakin' wave during the game. A BASKETBALL GAME. This is sports blasphemy -- imagine if FC Barcelona and Real Madrid played an exhibition game in Los Angeles and in response to a Ronaldinho hat trick, hundreds of fans threw octopi on the field.
New Jersey 91, Philadelphia 90: Four of the big five were out for New Jersey. The biggest of them all, Bostjan Nachbar, demanded to play, and play he did by scoring 35 points in an overtime victory. Meanwhile, the 76ers' starting lineup scores 17 points, and Louis Williams scores 33. It's great to see Williams doing so well, even though he still weighs about 50 pounds.
New York 112, Maccabi Elite 85: All of the Lower East Side shows up to root for Maccabi Tel Aviv, but the Knicks still win. Vonteego freakin' Cummings winds up the game's leading scorer with 20 points for Maccabi, but seven Knicks end up in double figures and cruise to an easy win.
Checking box scores? That's as ridiculous as Bruce Springsteen's decision to rip off Tommy Tutone in "Radio Nowhere."