NBA Week 13 – SirmacTV.com
Hola Amigos!
Well it’s my first time checking in since I came back from a much needed vacay, but while a few things changed, a lot stayed the same...such as the Cavs still being unbeaten at home, and Jose still having his consecutive free-throw streak in tact (he’s only 12 away from the record!). I still find it insane that the Cavs are entering into Feb. and still haven’t lost a game at home, but while that is impressive, it’ll all be about winning on the road when the playoffs roll around. If that holds true, I think the Magic could be the team coming out of the East in late-May.
When I left down south a few weeks back, Detroit was starting to hit their stride and we’re riding a 7-game win streak, but after some issues with the log jam at the guard positions (regarding who should start), the Pistons have lost 8 of their last 10. Personally, I like Rip and Stuckey starting with AI coming off the bench as the 6th man. AI adds instant scoring and you’ll never have to worry about your 2nd unit being outplayed. In the end, it’s not who starts the game, it’s who finishes…which is why I’ve always wondered why dudes bitch about not starting. I guess it’s an ego thing.
I’m giving Josh Smith the dunk of the year so far with his cram on Steve Nash, but you had to have known Iggy’s crowning of Dampier and Al Thornton’s facial on poor Solomon Jones we’re bound to end up in Gliz’s weekly review. J-Smoove’s cram on Nash brought back memories of Ricky Buckets giving Nash the business like 5-6 years ago…
J-Smoove on Nash…
Buckets on Nash back in the day…
Back in November I was gonna write about Clips rook Eric Gordon after he hung 25 on CP3 and the Hornets and then gave Chauncey and the Nuggets 24 the next night. While I I usually just jot down notes for the blog throughout the week, my organizational skills are sub-par and I ended up losing those notes…and subsequently, forgot about our friend Eric. Well, upon my arrival home, I found those notes which prompted me to see how his season was progressing. The results; He’s gotta be a top 5 rook this year. Easy. Up to this point, Rose and Mayo are the heavy favorites and Oden is starting to put up double-doubles like it’s nobody’s business, but Gordon has been quietly doing his thing on the west coast. Towards the end of December and into early January, Gordon strung together 6 straight 20+ point games going up against guys like Jason Terry and Nash (man, he keeps coming up on the shitty end of the stick, doesn’t he?). Since then, he’s scored in double-digits in the last 18 games and dropped 41 chips against OKC on Friday. The NBA just recently punched his ticket to participate in the T-Mobile Rookie/Sophomore Challenge during All-Star weekend as well.
With the trade deadline just over 3 weeks away, there are a handful of names that continue popping up such as Larry Hughes, Mike Miller and of course J.O and Shawn Marion. With the emergence of Michael Beasely at the SF/PF spot, Marion is expendible and the Heat are looking for a center. With J.O being the best center available and the Raps looking for some much needed perimeter D, I think this deal is 70% done. O’Neal has already conceded he thinks he’ll be down south in a few weeks, and Pat Riley pretty much said all he’s waiting for was to see if O’Neal is healthy enough. However, Marion has been on the shelf the last couple games so his health may come into play as well.
Another reason why this deal could take place is because Andrea Bargnani is finally showing signs of why he was taken #1 overall back in ’06. Barg’s achille heel over the last 2+ years has been his consistency and confidence (or lack thereof…) but he’s finally starting to bring it together. Over his last 17 games, he’s averaged just under 21 ppg and 7 rpg and has been looking more comfortable with each passing game. To put that in perspective, he’s averaged more ppg over his last 17 than guys like ‘Melo, Duncan, Joe Johnson, Amare and a slew of other bonafide scorers. We’ve seen Andrea string together a few solid games here and there but never before have we seen him play this well for such a long stretch. If he keeps it up, it’s just another reason to let J.O go.
Well heathens, that’s it for this week, but we’ll settle back down into the Monday routine next week so check back…
Holla!
-Gliz
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment