Built Ford Tough

Amir gets the most bullshit calls against him, especially when playing against against a vet big. He doesn't even touch Garnett and gets called for a foul two times already. Magloire comes in and immediately airballs a shot.

They put the Leafs in the game so that it would be guaranteed to sell out. Michigan stadium fits, what, 115,000 people? It wouldn't look all that great if they weren't able to sell out. You put the Leafs in the game and it is definitely going to sell out, espeically since Detroit isn't much of a drive from Toronto and the GTA. In other news, Alfredsson and Chara were named captains for the All-Star game.

^^^ To add to that post, Johnson is not only playing, but will be starting tonight as well.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7475729/zydrunas-ilgauskas-rejoins-cleveland-cavaliers-assistant-gm

Anthony Davis had one of the best games of any player in college basketball last night. 27 points, 14 rebounds, 7 blocks on 10-12 shooting and 7-8 shooting. He also managed to not turn the ball over once or pick up a signle foul despite being absolutely everywhere on the court. Could you imagine the potential of a Valanciunas/Davis front court defensively? Too bad it is highly unlikely the Raptors get the 1st pick because he seems to be cementing himself as the 1st overall pick with every passing day.

As a Heat fan who watches him more than probably any other poster on this forum, how much longer do you think he has left at an elite level? Do you agree with Nitro's assessment? I think everybody can see that he is starting to show signs of a it, like you touched upon.

What do you think is the cause for the Spurs abysmal play on the road to start the season? They have been lights out at home going 9-0. They are scoring 103 ppg, shooting 48% from the field and 43% from three. They are holding opponents to just 90 ppg, 42% from the field and 28% from three. Yet on the road they are 0-5. They are scoring just 95.6 ppg, shooting 45% from the field and 34% from three. Their opponents are scoring 109 ppg, shooting 53% from the field and 50% from three. So why do you believe the Spurs struggle so much when getting out on the road? Is losing Manu Ginobili the biggest reason? The Spurs have historically been a veteran team, but this season, other than Duncan and Manu, they are relatively young. Has their relative inexperience been to blame? They were a young team last season yet still managed to go a solid 25-16 on the road. Is it just a case of a small sample size? They have played some fairly good teams on the road this season in Houston, OKC, Miami, Minnesota and Milwaukee (who, up until last night, were undefeated at home). Or is it some other reason?

Coming into the season I don't think many people expected the Jazz to be anywhere other than the lottery. After trading Deron Williams and seeing Jerry Sloan step down, it seemed like the perfect time for this franchise to enter into a full blown rebuild for the first time in ages. They ended up with two lottery picks last season in Enes Kanter and Alec Burks to pair with other young players like Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward. It seemed only a matter of time before they looked to deal vets like Al Jeffesron and Paul Millsap. However, the Jazz have been one of the surprise teams in the Western Conference as they are currently sitting in 2nd place in the West with a 9-4 record including going 8-2 in their last 10 games. They have gone 7-1 at home, but just 2-3 on the road so their great start may be because of them having a favourable home/road split so far. So do you think the Jazz are for real? I'm not talking about in terms of finishing the season as a top 4 seed in the West or something like that because I think we can all agree that they aren't going to be a homecourt team in the playoffs. I'm talking about in terms of them being able to make the playoffs as potentially as high as a 6th seed. Or is this just a hot start and by the end of the season they will fall to the 10th/11th/12th range like many people had expected before the season started?

With the Bobcats struggles this season (as expected, of course) it seems like Henderson's very strong start has gone somewhat unnoticed. After a very disappointing rookie season that saw him average just 2.6 ppg on 35.6 FG% and appear in only 43 games, Henderson has really come on strong over the past little while. He improved his scoring to 9.6 a game on 45.4 FG% last season. At first glance those aren't really anything special, but if you look at his pre and post all-star break performances you will see that Henderson averaged 14.3 ppg on 45% shooting in the 26 games after the break. He has continued that strong play into the start of his 3rd season by averaging 15 ppg on 47 FG% in the first 15 games of his third NBA season. He has done this despite not having a terribly high increase in USG% (19.9 to 21.3). However, despite his increased scoring numbers, his advanced metrics suggest that he hasn't improved all that much. His PER is nearly identical to last season, his TS% is the same, his DRTG is the same and his ORTG has actually dropped. Basically all of his rebounding and assist percentages are identical this season as well. So what do you believe Henderson's ceiling to be? Has he basically peaked as a player and his improved scoring numbers this season is entirely due to the increase in minutes played and chances, or does he has some untapped potential?

With Wade turning 30 yesterday, his fairly extensive injury past and his balls to the wall style of play, how much longer do you think he will be able to stay at the top of his game? A lot of his game is based on his explsoiveness, quickness and ability to absorb contact. That isn't to say that he is weak fundamentally or anything like that but he does rely a lot on his superior athleticism in order to play at his best similar to the way that a prime Allen Iverson played (in terms of quickness and ability to absorb contact). Other highly athletic swing men with a history of injuries saw their decline come a few years after their 30's: Allen Iverson - 33 years old Vince Carter - 33 years old Tracy McGrady - 29 years old (although his injuries were more serious than the other players here) Is Wade on a similar career trojectory as a player like Carter or Iverson? Or do you think he will still be able to play at an elite level into his mid 30's despite his declining athleticism and fairly extensive injury past? How much longer will Wade be able to play at an elite level?

James Johnson will return to the lineup for the Raptors. Aaron Gray is considered likely to make his seasond debut. Andrea Bargnani and Jerryd Bayless are both out for this one. Not that it really matters either way, since Toronto will lose anyways. They really are a wonderful team to play when struggling. They gave Washington their first win, they gave Sacramento their first road win and they broke a losing streak for the Nets as well. Perfect time for Boston to end a 5 game slide.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20120117_DEN@MIL

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20120117_PHO@CHI

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20120117_CHA@ORL

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20120116_SAC@MIN

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20120116_POR@NO

Courtesy of The Basketball Jones: I loved the shot at the end.

Somebody needs to get Colangelo on the phone with this GM to strike a deal ASAP. Of course, Colangelo was probably the GM who voted for him.

I don't even think you can classify the Sixers as sneaking up on the Celtics anymore. At the beggining of the season you could say that, but not now. They are, quite simply, a better team than them at this point. I realize they haven't had a terribly difficult schedule, but they have proven that they are one of the best teams in the East. They don't have the star power that the C's do, but they are basically better in every aspect. Better defense, better offense, more athletic, better on the glass and arguably better coached as well, depending on how you view Collins. Personally, I think he is an awesome coach and that is no slight against Doc.

Casey's zone, not Carlisle's. Not trying to take anything away from Carlisle as I think he is a fantastic coach, but Casey was the mastermind behind that defense.

Rasual Butler would actually be my first choice. He plays decent defense, but he is an absolute momentum killer on offense with his constant bricks and airballs. He seems to end up taking at least 8-10 shots a game and the Raptors are lucky if he makes more than 1 of them. It wouldn't be as bad if he were to just take open looks, but he seems to think that he should be taking 3's with 18 seconds left on the shot clock, taking pull jumpers off the dribble and things like that. DeRozan has been a close second, though. He has really only played well in one game this season and that was the 2nd Cavs game. He had decent stretches in others, such as the 4th quarter in the first two games and the first quarter in the Pacers game, but he really has only played well in one full game. Like you said, Casey doesn't exactly utilize him in ideal situations, but that still doesn't excuse just how bad he has been. I'm not going to write him off just yet, but I think he just might not be as good as many Raptor fans, myself included, believed/hoped. He seemed to catch a lot of teams off guard last season and now that they are gameplanning specifically to stop him, he is proving to be way too easy to take out of games. His game really is limited and his struggles this season have really brought his glaring holes to light.

He isn't good, or even average, by any means, but he can handle the ball better than most defensive specialists and is a good finisher around the rim. He can't really shoot from range and knows that so he doesn't really attempt many jumpers. He cuts well and makes smart decisions with the ball. You can get by with having him out there during late game situations as defenses have to pay attention to him due to these things. They can't just completely ignore him like some defensive specialists out there. Obviously if you need a basket you aren't going to be looking to go to him, but he doesn't force you to play 4 on 5 either.

Holiday completely shut Jennings down with some absolutely stifling defense. I think he stripped the ball from Jennings about 3 times today and had around 6 in total. When he is playing defense like this and Iguodala is doing his thing like he usually does, it makes for one absolutely ridiculous perimeter defensive duo. They were both pretty good offensively as well as Holiday had 24 and Iggy had 21. The ball movement from the Sixers is so much fun to watch. Actually, basically everything about this Sixers team is fun to watch. Bogut had a very strong game for the Bucks, but nobody else could really do much to help him and he simply doesn't have the ability to put a team on his back like what was needed of him today. Jackson really is useless out there.

Art, no way the Grizzlies do that. Tony Allen is way too important to that team to trade him for two lesser role players, both of which who make more money than him and I like Jack a lot. He is probably the best perimeter defender in the league and that ability to allow the Grizzlies to play single coverage on all of the stud wing players in the league is simply irreplaceable for the Grizzlies. He is arguably their 3rd most important player and having a shut down defender like him, who also isn't a liability on offense, is going to be huge for the Grizzlies come playoff time, just like it was for them during their run last season.

Irving continues to prove why he is far and away the best rookie in the league despite the hype that Rubio has gotten. He put up 25 points, 7 assists and 4 rebounds on 9-16 shooting today while holding Kemba Walker to an abysmal 6-21 shooting. His ability to pentrate is really impressive. For such a young player, he really does a great job of mixing up his speeds and keeping the defense on their heels. He is going to be an absolute stud. Varejao with a couple of big buckets down the stretch to help the Cavs get and hold onto the lead. A very solid game from him with 14/12. I also thought that Casspi played his best game as a Cav, at least out of the ones that I have watched so far. He didn't just camp behind the 3 point line launching bombs. He did a nice job of getting out in transition which resulted in some trips to the line, was more active on the glass and did a nice job of using pump fakes to get his shot off. His 14/7 numbers aren't spectacular by any means, but I thought he had a solid game. For the Bobcats, Augustin was brilliant in the 1st half. He still played well in the 2nd but wasn't as dominant as he was in the 1st when he scored something like 16 points. Despite his lack of size and not great athleticism, he does a really nice job of creating space for himself to get off his jumper. Henderson continues his very solid season. He doesn't seem to get much recognition for his play but he has really put it all together in his third season and has put together a very nice season thus far. White was nice off of the bench as Thomas struggled.