Built Ford Tough

I did not expect to see Carter putting anybody on a poster this season, especially after watching him struggle to get much lift in a couple of games against the Thunder. It isn't anywhere near one of his best career dunks, but considering his age,Okafor's defensive capabilities and this being so unexpected it makes this a pretty awesome dunk.

Leandro Barbosa is (or at least should be) as good as gone from Toronto if you ask me. He is completely unecessary on the Raptors and with Bayless, the Raptors have a younger, cheaper player who gives basically the same things to a team. I can see Colangelo dealing him to the first team that offers a 1st rounder or a marginal prospect when the deadline nears. Clippers are likely going to deal Bledsoe at some point in the season for a more traditional 2 guard. They have way too many small, scoring guards in Bledsoe, Williams, Billups and Foye. They definitely need to deal one of them for a shooting guard with some size and Bledsoe is the best bet to be dealt considering his age, contract and 'potential'. I could see Washington trying to deal one of their nut jobs, assuming somebody is desperate enough to take them. Blatche would be the most obvious candidate, but I could also see Young being dealt (perhaps to the Clippers?). Depending on where Utah is in the standings, I could see them trying to move one of Millsap or Jefferson to make more room for Favors and Kanter in that frontcourt. Rockets will try and make a big deal like they always do. It will probably amount to nothing, but they will defintiely try. There are more, but those are the ones that came to me right off the top of my head.

I'd love to see a 24/7 program from HBO (like the one that they air for the two teams who play in the NHL's annual outdoor Winter Classic game) on the Wizards. Seeing the complete dysfunction and chaos around this team would be without a doubt the most entertaining part of the Wizards season. I can just imagine seeing Blatche showing up 40 minutes late for practice, Young jacking up fadeaway 3's during a drill where you are supposed to be attacking the basket, Javale planking in the middle of the play, Shard refusing to enter games, Wall looking completely dumbfounded and counting down the days until he can leave and then the camera zooms in on Flip chilling in the corner counting his money as a fight between Crawford and Young breaks out over who is more of a chucker. It would be some emmy calibre tv.

Evans looked great in this game; probably the best I've seen him play since his rookie season. He did a great job of attacking the basket, taking high percentage shots, creating for his teammates and really putting pressure on the defense whenever he had the ball in his hands. He didn't take stupid shots that have been a bit of a problem for him, wasn't a blackhole and controlled the flow of play really well. I wish Cousins wasn't in foul trouble for most of the night because it would have been interesting to watch both of them being at the top of their games at the same time. I've yet to see a Kings game where they both played really well at the same time. For the Magic, Davis played his best game of the season, which was desperately needed considering Dwight was only able to play 20 minutes due to foul trouble. He did a nice job of sticking open jumpers and not forcing his game, bur rather letting it come to him. He really struggled defensively when he had to guard DMC, but luckily for him and the Magic, he only got burned on around 3 or 4 possessions because of Cousins' foul trouble. J-Rich also stepped up. He didn't just camp out behind the 3 point line and was being much more aggressive with his offense. I don't know if it was because Howard was in foul trouble and he felt that he needed to be more assertive or what, but he did a much better job of mixing it up. I don't know why he doesn't play like this more often but chooses to just chuck away from three.

Do you mean what went wrong in the Philly game or the Jersey game? While there were a fair amount of similarities in both games, there were also a few obvious differences that were big reasons for the Raptors getting blown out in each.

Welcome to the forums. Glad you decided to join.

Cousins commits some really stupid mistakes. I know it is a cliche, but he really is his own wost enemy out there. He was completely dominating Glenn Davis out there getting whatever he wanted against him on the offensive end of the floor, but he makes two stupid mistakes that result in him picking up two completely unecessary fouls and because of that, he now has to sit with 5 fouls. If he can ever stop making these poor decisions and picking up stupid fouls, he really is going to be a special player because he is one of the most offensively gifted centers in the NBA. Thornton really caught fire for the Kings over the past two minutes. 8 points straight for him to cut the Magic lead down to 1 point before SVG takes the timeout.

Some really ticky tack fouls being called in the 2nd. It is completely ruining any flow from being established.

In his games so far he has put up: 10 points, 13 rebounds (7 offensive) and 1 block on 4-11 shooting in 22 minutes 10 points, 15 rebounds and 2 blocks on 5-12 shooting in 28 minutes 22 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks on 9-14 shooting in 32 minutes which averages out to: 14 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 2.3 bpg on 48.6% in 27.3 minutes

Cousins with 10 points and 5 rebounds in the first 5 minutes of the game. He has scored in the post, on an 18 foot jumper, off of a put back and from the line already. He is really showing his skill set to start this game. Hopefully he keeps it up because when he is actually playing ball and not getting involved in a bunch of petty bullshit, he is a hell of a talent.

Tough break for the Thunder. Harden plays point guard for the 2nd unit most of the time anyways from what I've seen but he is one of the better players off of their bench and they are going to miss his perimeter shooting with the 2nd unit.

Watching how easily Iguodala made DeRozan a non-factor in the game last night (pretty much all of his offense came in transition) made me realize just how easy it is to take him out of a game. I understand that Iggy is an absolutely awesome defender, but still, DeRozan was made a non-factor way too easily. His handles are way too weak to be able to become a reliable 2nd option (which is his ceiling) in this league. It is great that he made huge strides in his jumper since coming into the league, both from mid range and from three, but he really, really needs to work on being able to create his own offense at least on a semi-regular basis. He can't do anything without having somebody spoon feed him a lob, getting an off-ball screen to free him up or him being able to get out in the open floor. It doesn't help that Casey is somewhat offensively challenged as a coach (at least without having a lot of time to really implement his offense) other than drawing up some basic plays and getting Bargnani some good looks, which is likely from his time working with Dirk. He doesn't really get any real set plays ran for him and is used more as a safety net at the end of clock scenarios or as a spot up shooter, but even when he gets the ball with time to make a move, he is simply unable to really create for himself. I'm not saying that he is terrible or anything like that, just that he really needs to develop his handles if he is going to be anything more than a 3rd/4th option who lives off of the play of his teammates. He is getting much more defensive attention this season and is no longer sneaking up on teams like he did last season and defenses are really focusing in on stopping Bargnani and DeRozan while giving little to no respect for any other Raptor player. It is on him to make the necessary adjustments because he is a talented player.

Just 2 points and 8 rebounds for Jonas today against their archrival Zalgris, but from what I read the Rytas guards were chucking all game from the perimeter and completely ignored all of the bigs down low. I can't find a box score or anything (haven't really looked all that hard) so I don't know how Sonny Weems played for Zalgris.

Didn't like Ellis' execution down the stretch. Both of those final possessions saw glaring mistakes on Ellis' part. He got himself in trouble by leaving his feet without having his mind made up as to whether he wanted to shoot or pass, which resulted in a turnover and what happened to be the game winning free throw from Hayward. Then on the next possession he waited too long before making his move which ended up costing them any chance at getting an offensive rebound (which Lee ended up getting although time had expired). He should've made his move about 2-3 seconds earlier so that you have a chance at getting a put back. However, despite what I mentioned above, I can cut him some slack when you consider how he kept his team in the game in the first place and with Curry out of the lineup, he really was the only Warrior player who could do any sort of creating, which put a huge amount of pressure on him throughout the game.

Scratch that. This game was BRUTAL

Going to a hockey game tonight so I'll be watching this one LP when I get home. Should be a fun one, even if I fully expect the Sixers to dominate. Hopefully DeRozan bounces back from his putrid game last night.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/218129/Love_Declares_Himself_Best_Power_Forward_Wont_Commit_To_Signing_Max_Deal_With_Wolves

Conference play started up the other day, which is usually when the games become tougher. Some stats from today. The Good Harrison Barnes - 25 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals on 10-15 shooting including 3-4 from deep Quincy Miller - 15 points, 9 rebounds on 3-7 shooting and 9-11 from the line Anthony Davis - 12 points, 10 rebounds, 7 blocks on 5-10 shooting Jared Sullinger - 28 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals on 13-18 shooting Myck Kabongo - 15 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists (only 1 TO) on 3-8 shooting and 8-12 from the line The Meh Perry Jones - 9 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks on 4-8 shooting Michael Kidd-Gilchrist - 9 points, 6 rebounds on 3-5 shooting Andre Drummond - 10 points, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks on 4-9 shooting The Bad Bradley Beal - 9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers on 4-12 shooting (Florida lost to 7-8 Tennessee as well) Austin Rivers - 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 turnovers on 3-10 shooting Jeremy Lamb - 8 points, 1 rebound, 5 fouls in only 24 minutes

Looks like the real Raptors finally showed up. I was wondering how long it would be before this team came crashing back down to earth and judging from the brutal performance last night, it looks that that time came. Deron really needs some help, though. He is a good player but he is not the type that is going to turn a bunch of scrubs into stars. He needs talented players around him and a solid system for him to be at his best. He will still put up his numbers (albeit inefficiently) but in order for him to have the biggest impact on the game as possible, he needs talent around him because then he is absolutely lethal.

http://www.nba.com/games/20120106/MEMUTA/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0021100107#nbaGIboxscore

http://www.nba.com/games/20120106/DENNOH/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0021100104#nbaGIboxscore

I really enjoyed the pregame ceremony from the Sixers. I thought it was well done. As for the game, I started watching it after I got home from a hockey game and finished the Raptors game, but I fell asleep after the 1st, which is a testament to how exciting the Detroit Pistons are. Monroe continues to look good, though.

I know it is early and teams are still getting their legs under them, but I think I may have to reconsider my comments about where the Sixers will finish this season. After watching their first 5 games and a handful of games from other teams in the Atlantic, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if they managed to win that division. The way that they play defensively combined with how deep they are is going to make them extremely tough to beat. On any given night one of Holiday, Turner, Iguodala, Hawes, Williams, Young or Brand can lead this team and when one or two of the starters struggle you just know that one of the three bench studs (ET, Thad and Lou) are going to pick up the slack for them. That makes them so dangerous especially when you combine it with their excellent defense. I still think that Boston will ultimately win the division, but I won't be surprised at all if the Sixers end up winning it.

Holiday took over down the stretch and played like I have been waiting for all season. He wasn't forcing his shots but rather taking them within the flow of the offense, he played very good defense on Jack, who up until that point was lighting up the Sixers, and he made excellent decisions with the ball. Very impressive performance from him and hopefully that is the moment that turns his season around because up until then he had been playing very underwhelming basketball. What will likely go unnoticed because of how well Jrue played in the 4th is just how good Evan Turner played for basically the entire game, especially in the 3rd when he sparked the Sixers. He was getting to the rim at while showcasing his excellent handles. The moves he was putting on the Hornets tonight were a thing of beauty and reminded me so much of watching him in his final season at OSU. In addition to that, he was making great passes, rebounding the ball well, doing an awesome job of running the offense and playing well defensively. This was without any doubt the best performance I have ever seen from Turner in the NBA. His game tonight was just brilliant. Hawes continues to be the Sixers' most consistent player. Another rock solid game from him. Iguodala really struggled in this one as his jumper seemingly came back down to earth after him setting the nets on fire from deep in the Sixers first 2 games. The thing about the Sixers is that they are so deep they can afford to have an off night from a guy like Iguodala or Holiday because they will have somebody else step up, like Turner did tonight, Thad did in the Golden State game and Williams did in the Portland game. On the Hornets side, I thought Jack played a great game for the first 43 minutes, but got a little out of control in the final 5 as he tried to do a bit too much. It is tough to blame him because he coudl sense the game slipping away but you have to continue to play within the system and not try to take it upon yourself to do it all. Other than that I thought he played a great all around game and his numbers reflect that (19 points, 11 assists, 5 board and held Holiday to 9 points through the first 3 quarters). Gordon got off to a great start but as the game went on he seemed to fatigue, which is understandable since this was his first game since the opener as he missed time due to, I believe, a knee injury. He came out of the gate doing a great job of attacking the rim and then working his outside shot after establishing the drive. Landry had a typical Landry game. He doesn't make any highlight plays, scores within the offense, rebounds the ball and you don't really notice him until you look at the box score and see that he has quietly put up 18-20 points and 8-10 rebounds on 48-52% shooting (tonight he had 21/8 on 50% shooting).

Odom may looks like he is turning the corner and getting his game back. He had his best game of the year against the Thunder the other night and then tonight improved on it by putting up 15/5 on 50% shooting. It is about time because the Mavs really needed him to wake up and start playing like he is capable of.