NBA

[brod]

What Im seeing in the NBA

- The retirement of Jerry Sloan after 23 years in Utah, the 3rd winningest NBA coach
- Lakers with a balanced team effort, led by 20pts, 10reb and 4 ast to Pau Gasol and a strong fourth quarter to Kobe defeat Boston whose lack of depth (due to injuries) is highlighted when Nate Robinson goes down after four minutes. Ray Allen breaks Reggie Millers 3PFGM record
- Aarron Afflalo explodes with 19 fourth quarter points including the winning buzzer beater as the Nuggets knock off the Mavs 121-120. Anthony has 42 for Denver, while Tyson Chandler scores 20 on 8/9FG to go with 10 boards
- The Suns smash Golden State 112-88, shooting 52% and having all players score

[CK]

Cleveland and the Clippers about to start overtime, after 110-all at full time. Cavs got out to four with 1.42 left but let the Clippers back in, before tying it up with 6.3 seconds left.

...and the longest losing streak in the NBA is over

Cleveland win 126-119 in overtime.

[RoosterMarty]

ESPN were showing Knicks vs Lakers but kept doing live crosses to the Cavs game.

Good shot by Mo Williams to send the game to OT. Hickson was pretty big in the last quarter as well with a number of blocks including a potential game winner by Baron Davis.

[woodublieve12]

been in the states now for a bit... sick of hearing bout carmelo anthony!!!!

blake griffin is every highlight reel... good to see the cavs win tonight

[Grahaml]

Griffin is the love child right now and I'm not quite sure he deserves that sort of billing. He's got some serious talent, don't get me wrong, and I expect he'll be a superstar in years to come. But their winning percentage right now has them on track for just 2 more wins than last year. LeBron saw Cleveland win 18 more games in his rookie season. Dwight Howard improved the magic 15 games. Dwyane Wade's stat is 17. Carmelo Anthony's inclusion saw the nuggets win 26 more games (shows why all the talk I guess).

Just not convinced just yet that Griffin quite deserves the accolades he's getting.

As for the Carmelo deal, clubs saw how the Heat got James and now are all thinking these serious franchise type players are actually more likely to change clubs than ever before. And when you can possibly get him to sign for you without trading, it puts Denver in a nasty position trying to lock him up or trade him for something worthwhile. He's too good a player to lose for nothing. But a club like the Knicks are missing only a piece or two and Anthony is worth 2 players sometimes.

[RoosterMarty]

Excellent win by the Bulls today thanks to a superb second half. Completely shut the Hornets down.

D Rose once again proves himself, this time he outshone CP3.

[brod]

What Im seeing in the NBA

- Carlos Delfino, Bucks: Sinks 7 of 10 3-point attempts in the Bucks' blowout of the Clippers. Even more impressive was the win came after Ilyasova got hurt after 2 minutes and Bigut fouled out in 30 min
- Kwame Brown outrebounds Andrew Bynum. Yes, easy to pile on the 20-point loss for the Lakers, who can be thankful the Cats are not in
the West as a 7-8 seed. Lakers have lost eight of last 10 to MJ's crew, who got the W with Stephen Jackson shooting 3/10 for 9 points, while Kobe had 5 turnovers to go with just 2 assists
- Spurs win every quarter in 102-85 win at New Jersey, as the Spurs are again able to rest their ageing lineup
- Pistons manage just 79 points and 26 rebounds against Atlanta, no wonder they are 20-36
- Twolves show they are stupid...Kevin Love had 7 FGA in 37 minutes, no wonder they lost 81-95 to Portland. Patty Mils gets 2 points on 1/4 shooting
- Denver continue to show two things, 1- they cant play D (losing 102-121 to Houston), 2- they cant win on the road (9-18)

[RoosterMarty]

Chicago finally beat the Cats today. They were backing up so if we didn't win today there would be something wrong.

Bulls host the Spurs on Friday our time, really can't wait for that one. Massive test.

[mighty hounds]

Chicago finally beat the Cats today. They were backing up so if we didn't win today there would be something wrong.

Bulls host the Spurs on Friday our time, really can't wait for that one. Massive test.

Surely this is on one HD?

[Grahaml]

Chicago finally beat the Cats today. They were backing up so if we didn't win today there would be something wrong.

Bulls host the Spurs on Friday our time, really can't wait for that one. Massive test.

Surely this is on one HD?

One seem to show strange games. They obviously try to show more Milwaukee games because of Bogut, and then a fair few Miami and Lakers games because of the profile LeBron and Kobe have, but there tends not to be much of a feel for which games are important.

The Hornets v Warriors game today was a prime example.

On another note, people seem to talk Chris Paul up like he's still a superstar. I think he's a fading force in the league (along with every other classic point guard mind you) and being replaced by these new age guards like Rose who aren't really point guards, aren't really shooting guards but are something in between a point guard, shooting guard and small forward as we typcially think of players.

Only exception would be Rondo who I really rate. The guy shoots 54% from the line, 50% from the field and 31% from downtown! Been a while since a guy had more assists than points too. But with a side stacked full of offensive threats, a pass first, second and third kind of guy is just ideal.

[Grahaml]

Apparently the Bulls v Spurs game is on, first in a double header tomorrow.

[CK]

3.51 remaining in the final term.

LA Lakers 82
Cleveland 91

[Grahaml]

91-96 Cleveland up with 65 seconds left.

[Grahaml]

Cleveland actually showed some poise down the stretch. 10/12 from the line, 9/16 from the field in the last quarter.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to say it, but I can't see the Lakers winning this year. Slipping down the pecking order, struggling for consistent output and rhythm while their rivals like San Antonio, Boston, Miami and Dallas just seem to be tinkering away with their game plans and working on keeping players healthy.

Bryant to me is a massive, massive worry. I've never been a great fan of his, because I think he'd rather take a low percentage shot than find an open team mate. But he went 8/24 from the field, 1/6 from outside with 7 turnovers. And worst of all, 2 assists. In a game where Fisher was shooting 8/12 and Gasol was 8/15. Even Brown was 7/14. The golden rule of basketball has always been to get it to the guy with the hot hand. Bryant just seems to think he always has the hot hand. Even Jordan didn't have that big an ego and he probably was the only bloke who could have.

[RoosterMarty]

They definitely showed poise, the Lakers leveled the game in the last quarter yet the Cavs again blew it out to double digits. Lakers have played 5 in 7 and have the break coming up but if they were at their best they still should have won this game.

Good call re Bryant, most Lakers fans won't agree but the guy has been ordinary this season. He just chucks up shot after shot, sometimes long bombs from outside 3, and just thinks he can win the game every time. That is why I have never liked him either despite him being a great player, he is one of the most selfish players in the game. Lebron has actually copped criticism this season for passing on the final play to an open man (who has often drained the shot) but I would rather the player pass if he doesn't have a decent look.

The Lakers may lift a gear in the playoffs but I just don't see it this year, not just because of Bryant but Artest and Fisher have been rubbish most of the season too.

[Grahaml]

Even on heavy schedule, the Lakers should beat them anywhere, anytime and under any conditions if they're a contender. A good side just simply doesn't drop games to the bomb shelter team. And don't forget the Cavs actually started the season reasonably well with a 4-3 record over the first 7 games. 6-43 since then!

But now I bet every team drops a game to an ordinary side just to make me look silly.

I've never been a great fan of Kobe's. He's always been a bit too wasteful for my liking. He shoots at 45% when most great shooters shoot closer to 50%. 5% might not seem much, but 1 shot more in 20 made has an effect just about every game. But then, Phil Jackson is a better judge than I and doesn't seem to mind too much. Lol. Overall, he's clearly one of the stars of the league. He'll rightfully get into the hall of fame soon after retiring. But in a conversation about whether he's in the Jordan, Bird, Shaq, James echelon of being the best player in the world at one point, I think he fell short by about 5%. Lol.

[Grahaml]

Spurs quest to be only the second ever side to notch 70 wins in a season sees them needing to round out the rest of the year 24-3. They have 14 games at home, 13 away and 8 games against the top 8 sides in the comp (Miami, LA, Dallas, Orlando, Oklahoma, Atlanta, Boston and Chicago) with 19 against the rest. You would expect them to win most, if not all those 19 games against the weaker sides going around (and Popovich would be disappointed to drop any of those no doubt) meaning they can probably afford to drop 2 of those 8 games against the better sides. Of those, I see these as vital wins for the 70 win mark.

Tomorrow at Chicago
March 14 at Miami
March 18 at Dallas (after a 4 day break)
April 12 at LA (where LA might be battling for a higher seed position)

They simply can't afford to lose more than 1 of those very tough games. They have another 4 against strong opponents. My money would be on them losing 5 games and ending on 68 wins. But jag an extra couple of wins, they might be on the mark.

[Swooper16]

I think the Spurs are zero chance of reaching 70wins. Popovich has always put championships ahead of anything else. As soon as the West has been wrapped up I'd expect Duncan Ginobili and Parker to start racking up DNP's to save them for the playoffs. Also after the all-star break i reckon the Spurs will start resting Duncan on the second night of B2B's.

Looking forward to tomorrows clash...go Spurs..!!

[brod]

I think the Spurs are zero chance of reaching 70wins. Popovich has always put championships ahead of anything else. As soon as the West has been wrapped up I'd expect Duncan Ginobili and Parker to start racking up DNP's to save them for the playoffs. Also after the all-star break i reckon the Spurs will start resting Duncan on the second night of B2B's.

Looking forward to tomorrows clash...go Spurs..!!

Id say youre right. Pop has been resting Duncan at any chance this season, and Im sure he would extend that policy as the season concludes.
Would love to see them get 70, but would much prefer winning in June

[brod]

Most Improved Player Of The Year Watch (From ESPN.com)


1. LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers: He is scoring 29.6 points on 57.9 percent shooting in February, up from 22.1 and 49.5 on the season, and is seemingly determined to turn his All-Star snub into an MIP award.

2. Eric Gordon, Clippers: He has been set back because of injury but still owns one of the biggest increases in Adjusted-PER, going from 13.84 to 21.22 (via HoopData.com).

3. Russell Westbrook, Thunder: He spring-boarded off Team USA to increase his scoring average from 16.1 points per game to 22.5, but he's done it by attempting 3.1 more free throws and two more shots within 10 feet per night, while also upping his FG percentage from .418 to .439.

4. Kevin Love, Timberwolves: He has upped his league-leading 15.5 rebounds per game from 11.0 last season and also grabs 23.3 percent of all boards when he plays; only Moses Malone, Dennis Rodman and Ben Wallace have done that (minimum 30 mins./game, 50 games/season).

5. Nick Young, Wizards: He has increased his scoring average from 8.6 last season to 17.6, dropping 20.7 points per game in 29 games as a starter since the Gilbert Arenas trade. Sure the Wizards are bad, but with few scoring options Young has had to fight through extra defense for his points.