Around the NBA - 02 Jan

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Watched the tail end of the Rockets/Celtics game, and saw Kevin Garnett take over down the stretch. I'm indifferent to the city of Boston, and I'm indifferent to the Celtics, but I hope they win it, because Kevin Garnett, in my opinion, deserves a championship. I don't say that about a lot of players, but Garnett deserves a championship.

Atlanta snatched defeat from the jaws of victory tonight in Cleveland; LeBron James, whom I think had about ten points through the first 2.5 quarters, finished with thirty-six.

Charlotte totally blew what should have been a comfortable win against the Bulls when they utterly choked the game away in the third quarter, wasting a great night from Gerald Wallace: 23pts, 11reb, 8ast, 2blk (he also had a steal that I saw, but the stat keeper pencil-whipped him, and gave it to Derek Anderson instead).

In a somewhat related rant, when are NBA coaches not named Don Nelson going to realize that they can't pull off Midget Ball? In the first place, you need to have jump shooters to play Midget Ball and win. In the second place, I thought that the whole point of Charlotte trading Primoz Brezec for Nazr Mohammed (who actually was a real NBA center, once upon a time) was for them to be able to let Okafor, Wallace and Richardson play their natural positions? So why are they still trying to play Wallace at PF, and make him have to try and defend 6'10"-7' power forwards?

Speaking of my favorite ex-Kings, Teko had another great fourth quarter, scoring ten of his twenty-three in the final frame, but the Magic came up short to the Nets.

And, in other news, the Pistons continue to beat the dog**** out of people. That game against Boston on Saturday should be tight.

 

[twocents]

teko is doing really great this season; happy for him. but that last drive where he lost control of the ball cost the magic the game. he has won quite a few games for the magic and is probably learning the intracacies of late game heroics. once he matures in that area, he will be a much better player.

as for the pistons/celtics matchup, i will be rooting for the pistons. i have always had an affinity towards them that dates back to the days when they were beating the magic and co (aka lakers) fair and square. as for the celtics, i am ambivalent towards garnett (his exaggeration of every thing usually annoys me but i like his passion), pierce is so-so and i slightly dislike allen who seems to be really full of himself (probably, that movie - jeebus knuckleworth character - derailed his personality).

 

[Jerryaki]

In a somewhat related rant, when are NBA coaches not named Don Nelson going to realize that they can't pull off Midget Ball? In the first place, you need to have jump shooters to play Midget Ball and win. In the second place, I thought that the whole point of Charlotte trading Primoz Brezec for Nazr Mohammed (who actually was a real NBA center, once upon a time) was for them to be able to let Okafor, Wallace and Richardson play their natural positions? So why are they still trying to play Wallace at PF, and make him have to try and defend 6'10"-7' power forwards?

yahoo sports says it's because okafor is "uncomfortable" playing defense on the perimeter. and i only know this after having picked up nazr for my fantasy squad. d'oh.

 

[chrisnu]

In a somewhat related rant, when are NBA coaches not named Don Nelson going to realize that they can't pull off Midget Ball? In the first place, you need to have jump shooters to play Midget Ball and win. In the second place, I thought that the whole point of Charlotte trading Primoz Brezec for Nazr Mohammed (who actually was a real NBA center, once upon a time) was for them to be able to let Okafor, Wallace and Richardson play their natural positions? So why are they still trying to play Wallace at PF, and make him have to try and defend 6'10"-7' power forwards?

Exactly. I don't get it, either. Sam Vincent started Mohammed for a few games, and it appears to be working. If Vincent insists on playing Okafor out of position, I think that having Mohammed play PF would be less of a stretch than having Wallace play that position.

 

[acisking]

teko is doing really great this season; happy for him. but that last drive where he lost control of the ball cost the magic the game. he has won quite a few games for the magic and is probably learning the intracacies of late game heroics. once he matures in that area, he will be a much better player.

Jason Kidd also forced him into that turnover. After the game he said that he realized if he let Hedo go left, he would just shoot over him. So he decided to let him go right which would make him put the ball on the floor and then Kidd could try and strip the ball as Turkoglu was going up with it. Somehow that entire sequence ended up happening exactly as Kidd planned...it's hard to blame Turkoglu when the defense is that calculated.

 

[twocents]

Jason Kidd also forced him into that turnover. After the game he said that he realized if he let Hedo go left, he would just shoot over him. So he decided to let him go right which would make him put the ball on the floor and then Kidd could try and strip the ball as Turkoglu was going up with it. Somehow that entire sequence ended up happening exactly as Kidd planned...it's hard to blame Turkoglu when the defense is that calculated.

you are right, turkoglu is not to blame. but a good player should not be led by the opposing player; instead he should force the other out of his comfort zone, so to speak. hedo is in the process of learning. besides, without his 10 points scored in the fourth quarter, there would not have been a last shot chance at all.