NBA – Week 4 – SirmacTV.com

Yep, it's that time again...time for another round with ya boy Gliz...So I'm sure some of you guys caught the Raps/Nets game last week...Vince guts the Raps everytime. It stings. Luckily I was watching from a fine establishment and had many drinks to sooth the pain...On the real though, there’s no excuse of why AP and Jose got caught up on that screen…critical mistake. On a play like that, there’s no time to fight through screens so Jose and AP should’ve communicated earlier (before the play even started perhaps) and decided what they were gonna do WHEN the screen came (they had to have known it was coming). If Jose had switched with AP, all he would’ve had to do was impede Vince on his way to the bucket and all the timing would have been thrown off. Also, Bosh on Harris may have also been a questionable call and when the whole play went down, CB4 (the Raps biggest guy on the floor) was standing out around center. Harris was giving Jose buckets most of the night so it wasn’t necessarily a bad call sticking Jose on Dooling, but I would’ve put AP on Harris (instead of CB4), and then would’ve put CB4 or Moon on Vince. AP on Vince wasn’t necessarily a bad call either, but Moon and CB4 are both longer and are athletic enough to stick with Vince (at least for 2.1 seconds). Everyone in the GTA knew Vince was gonna get the final look so it seems unacceptable to me that he would get all the way to the rim untouched. Kudos to the Nets’ short little ginger coach for drawing up that play.Last week I mentioned Golden State rook Anthony Morrow and how he dropped 37 and 11 on the Clips. In a league filled with guys ‘on the verge’, one night certainly isn’t enough to crown anybody as anything, so I tuned into GS’s next game to catch Morrow again. He ended up putting 25 chips on the table in a win against the Blazers and looked smooth in the open court. On one play, he crossed up a Blazer’s defender (Sergio Rodriguez maybe?) and popped the jimmy from the corner. He only tallied 7 pts. in the game after that, but it’s clear why he’s snuck into the top 5 in NBA.com’s Rookie Rankings.I went into 7-11 earlier in the week and saw Mike James on the side of a milk carton. Remember a few years back when him and CB4 were the only viable offensive options for the Raps? Well after doing minimal research, I found him. He’s withering away in New Orleans averaging 2.5 pts a contest.The Lakers are solid. Even though it wouldn’t take a neuro-surgeon to figure that out (they got a 10-1 record), I’ve watched at least 7-8 of their games and they just dominate. Kobe is usually sipping Gatorade on the sidelines in the 4th quarter and they got depth all the way through. Prior to EASILY taking care of the Suns and Nuggets later in the week, I watched the Lakers put away the Bulls on ‘Lakers Courtside View’…which is actually pretty dope. The game is basically broadcasted through a few courtside cameras and there’s no announcers so all you hear is the real crowd reaction and ambient noise…and even some fuckin’ expletives here and there. It also gives you a better perception of how strong and quick these dudes are. In that game, Pau had 18 in the 1st quarter and Kobe was dropping no-look dimes and behind the back passes all over the gym.So can any of you guys guess who leads the league in scoring per 48 minutes???How about Thomas Gardner, Walter Sharpe and Donyell Marshall! All have played less than 3 games.So a few weeks after the blockbuster Chauncey/A.I trade went down, The Nuggets have seemed to gotten used to Chauncey a little quicker than the Pistons have gotten used to A.I. The Nuggets are 7-2 with Chauncey while the Pistons are a modest 4-4 with A.I.Although I realize Dumars had to shake things up a bit, I dunno if I would’ve been so quick to unload my starting pg. A.I averages 25 ppg when his team(s) win this season and only 15 ppg in losses. On a team like Detroit where scoring isn’t that much of a concern (Rip, ‘Sheed, Tayshaun, Stuckey etc.), I think they need a facilitator more than a bonafide chucker.I pity Knicks fan. First they unloaded their leading scorer in Jamal Crawford and then they send Zach Randolph, a regular 20-10 guy, on his way out of town. In return, the Knicks got Al Harrington from Golden State and then got Cat Mobley and Tim Thomas from the Clips in exchange for Z-Bo. I’ve always been a fan of Crawford although I figured the only reason he averages the numbers he does is because he jacks shots. He’ll have a great time with Stephen Jackson and should thrive in Nellie’s system.
A lot of Knicks fans are fed up with the Z-Bo deal because they figure the only value that Mobley and Thomas hold is that they have expiring contracts. Is a couple expiring contracts worth the 20.3 ppg and 12.3 boards a game that Z-Bo gave? I’ve been somewhat of a Knicks fan since the late 90’s so I hate watching them enter into a rebuilding stage…especially when they’re just rebuilding from the previous rebuilding effort. There’s also been some rumors that Starbury could be on his way to MIA (along with some other spare parts) in exchange for Marion. I think it’s a bit of a stretch, but anything is possible. In the meantime, check out clips of Jamal's nasty signature move
Other than the Raps/Nets game, the other game of the week has to go to the Jazz/Bulls game from Sunday night. I started watching in the 2nd half when the Jazz started fastbreaking about mid-way through the 3rd. It started out with little Ronnie Price flying through the lane for a huge cram and then there was a huge Ronnie Brewer alley-oop the next trip down…which was followed by another Price breakaway flush…and finally ended with a Paul Millsap two-hander. The Bulls stayed poised though, with Drew Gooden knocking down some key jumpers and Derek Rose driving the lane for 2 tough buckets in the final minute…all of which set the table for Larry Hughes to knock down the game winning jumper with no ticks left. Big road W for the Bulls. Here’s the highlights… http://www.nba.com/video/games/jazz/2008/11/24/nba_chi_uta_0020800202_recap.nba/index.html?player=game&q=0020800202&ls=gt1hp0020800202

I was watching the Jazz broadcast which also had Deron Williams guest commentating for a bit and it’s looking like he’ll be good to go for Wednesday’s match-up against Memphis.

Anyways, that’s it for this week, but check back next week for my review of Lebron night at MSG!

I’m out like Z-Bo.