Built Ford Tough

Tony Parker goes into god mode draining 3 step back jumpers from the left elbow to pretty much ice the game. There was a crazy sequence with about 3 or 4 minutes left. Duncan gets a block, starts the break and Ford throws a lob to Danny Green. Duncan gets another block, starts the break but Parker pulls it out and Pop goes absolutely nuts on the sideline. Duncan forces a turnover on Monta, Parker pushes the ball and Jefferson hits a three. Duncan gets a defensive rebound, outlets to Parker who pushes and hits a floater in the lane and Pop goes absolutely nuts on the sideline, but in a good way this time. That minute and a half stretch brought the Spurs down from 5 or so points to up by 2 and they never looked back after that.

Yes. They have one left, which is another reason why I liked Adelman's decision to not call a timeout on the past two Wolves possessions.

Wolves run the exact same play as before and Rubio almost ends up with another wide open three. Luckily for Memphis, Conley recovered just in time to prevent Rubio from getting the open look. That was a real ballsy pass from Rubio to Love, too. Rubio definitely isn't afraid to make big plays, that is for sure.

Nice decision by Adelman to not call the timeout. When you need a three, I don't understand why more teams don't let their players bring the ball up the court as it makes it so much easier to get a look as opposed to calling a timeout and allowing the defense to set up.

Tony Allen - 18 points, 4 rebounds on 8-8 shooting and has held Beasley to 4-14 shooting (not that he has been the only one to guard him, but he has been on him for most of the 4th). He is playing some ridiculously good basketball lately.

Part of the problem is that he doesn't have the handle or the quickness to get by many small forwards so he has to rely on his teammates and cuts to get him looks. That was a really nice backdoor cut by Mayo and a great pass from Gasol for that And 1 about a minute ago.

Rubio and Williams seem to have some great chemistry together. I haven't watched a lot of Wolves games, but every game I have watched it seems like Rubio hooks him up with at least 2 easy baskets. Just right now he gave him a perfect lob pass and then the next trip got him 2 free throws.

The Bobcats are toying with the Knicks. Does that sound bizzare to anybody else? They are standing around dribbling down the shot clock and then with 4 seconds left they just bury a jumper. Henderson did it twice in a row and then Diaw just did it there. It is actually funny to watch.

Bargnani is making Hollins, Jamison, Varejao and anybody else the Cavs have tried to guard him with this quarter look absolutely foolish.

Seriously, DeRozan's three point shot is absolute money now. That is three 3's in the first half including two deep, contested ones right Anthony Parker's face. It is absolutely ridiculous how he managed to improve his three point shot this much in one offseason. He went from one of the worst three point shooting wings in the league to being nearly automatic from deep so far this season. He is 8-11 from three so far. He hit 9 threes in his first 2 years combined. I realize that there is absolutely no way he keeps up this kind of shooting all season long, but damn, it has made me a believer in his long range shooting.

Nashnani with the bullet to Amir. And then DeRay DeAllen with the deep three over Parker.

Do the Wizards even run any plays offensively or do they just go out there and take turns playing iso ball? Granted, I've only flipped to the game when the Raptor game is on commercial, but every time I turn to it I see absolutely no movement and guys just dribbling for 10 seconds, going nowhere and then passing it off to a teammate who attempts to do the same thing. It is brutal.

Nice finish by Davis. He has been forcing and rushing things offensively over the past few games but that time he did a nice job of catching, gathering and then going up for the finish.

DeRozan gets absolutely no respect from refs. He gets hit a good 3 or 4 times a game without getting a call. They aren't ticky tack contact, either, they are clear fouls like that last one from Jamison on the dunk. It makes it somewhat understandable why he has settled for jumpers this season, although it is no reason for him to become complacent and stop attacking. Keep on being aggressive and give the refs no choice other than to give him the call.

No Samuels for the Cavs as he lost his passport or something like that.

Casey says that he is day-to-day (along with Bayless and Gray). http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/01/04/raptors-ready-for-tristan-thompsons-toronto-debut/ From what I read/heard, most people expected him to return near the end of the month, but if Casey considers him day-to-day it may mean we see him closer to the mid-point of this month as opposed to the end. I don't really have high expectations for him considering he is coming off of microfracture surgery, but I have always liked Kleiza and he is likely a better option than Rasual Butler, so I hope he is able to return to the lineup soon. His play in the preseason last year probably raised his expectations to an unrealistic level and because of that, a lot of Raptors turned on him in the process because he didn't reach those expectations. I still think (hope) that he can become a solid 7th or 8th man off of the bench as a tweener 3/4.

Yeah, I get that he was considered a product and would take at least 2-3 years before even having the potential of contributing to a team, but I just don't see anything in him, other than him being 7'2, that suggests he is going to be able to play at this level. He is completely robotic in his movements, he is unathletic, he struggles keeping up with the game, doesn't have a very good touch, etc... Some of these are things that can improve on with time and experience, I get that, but with these raw players you also see flashes here and there where you see that he does have something in him and I've yet to really see anything in Alabi that makes me believe he has potential. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to give up on him or anything like that. With the position the Raptors are in they might as well try to see if you have something in him. I was just making an observation that, in my opinion, he doesn't really have a future in the NBA. I hope I am wrong because he seems like a good guy from the interviews that I've read/seen from him and he hwas went through quite a bit in his life.

Another trick/glitch is that there is a companion you can get in, I believe, Rivenwood who can train you in Archery. The thing is, when you hire him you can trade with him so get him to train you, you pay him the gold and then you can immediately trade with him and get your gold back. You can also train (from any trainer) and then pickpocket your gold back, although you may get caught and have a bounty placed on you. As for general tips, making use of line of sight is key when fighting mages early on, making sure to single out individuals and not taking on more than one at a time (I had that problem early on when making a mage) and since you are a mage, make sure to go and find a vendor who can sell you summon Flame Attronach and similar spells. It will help out a lot early on in the game. I don't really have much experience with a mage, though, since my guy is a thief/archer/assasin type character, but I do have one low level mage character.

http://tracking.si.com/2012/01/04/report-zach-randolph-has-torn-mcl-could-miss-eight-weeks/#?eref=twitter_feed Tough break for the Grizzlies. He wasn't playing that great this season but losing your best/2nd best player is going to be a very tough blow to the Grizzlies' playoff hopes, especially when you consider how tight the West is likely going to be this season. Who knows, though, many people thought the same thing when Gay went down last year and look how that turned out for them. The Grizzlies hang their hat on their defense and its not like Randolph is a defensive anchor for them or anything like that.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/218051/Basketball_Continuing_To_Grow_In_Canada_As_Thompson_Returns_For_First_NBA_Game_In_Toronto#ixzz1iWQKdfdU As for the game itself, looking forward to seeing the Davis/Thompson matchup. Both of them played well in the season opener but Davis has struggled since then. Hopefully he can have another game similar to his season opener as Thompson is a good matchup for him considering they both play very similar styles. DeMar had his best game of the season against the Knicks (which isn't exactly saying much as he wasn't that great in that game) so hopefully he can build on that and finally play up to his expectations. Irving has played much better since the first game of the season so it should be nice to see him tonight. Even if I don't particularly care for the Cavs, I do have an interest in seeing Irving and Thompson succeed and they also have one of my favourite former Raptors in Anthony Parker. Should be a fun game as the Cavs have been playing pretty well since the Boxing Day game and the Raptors could easily be 4-1 right now instead of 2-3 if not for a well timed tanking effort (although I don't actually think they tanked the games) against the Mavs and the Magic.

I just don't see him ever actually being an NBA player. At this point it seems more likely that he will be out of the league after his current contract than him ever actually cracking an NBA lineup. I hope I am wrong and he shows something, anything, that would make me think otherwise but I just don't see it. And to think, I was actually excited when the Raptors drafted him and thought he would be a solid defensive center.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-2-a-new-beast-in-the-east Just to clarify, I don't believe that Bargnani is openly trying to take a shot at Bosh and you will see that if you read the entire article. He is more talking about the team rebuilding after Bosh left, trying to establish a winning culture and things like that. He probably meant in more in the sense of saying that even when Bosh was there they weren't a good team and that is what they are striving to become now. Bargnani has always spoke highly of Bosh, even after he left, so I highly doubt he is trying to take a shot at him. But, he does speak the truth and that is one thing that I always have liked about Bargnani. He doesn't try to be politically correct or sugercoat his answers. He always gives his 100% true thoughts.

Colangelo and Stefanski were at the UCONN game today, presumably to check out Drummond and Lamb.

The Heats' struggle against the zone is no secret after the NBA Finals last year, the game against the Celtics where they blew the big lead and almost lost and last nights loss against the Hawks, but it is a bit surprising just how much they struggle against a zone in comparision to a man-to-man defense. Check this out: Vs. Transition Plays - 125 Points - 152 Efficiency - 121.6 FG% - 69.7 TO% - 15.2 FT pct - 4.4 Vs. Man Plays - 567 Points - 441 Efficiency - 94.4 FG% - 48.0 TO% - 15.0 FT pct - 12.8 Vs. Zone Plays - 50 Points -37 Efficiency -74.0 FG% -38.1 TO% - 12.0 FT pct - 4.0 (FT pct is the percentage of plays that end in free throws, not the percentage shot from free throws) http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/11102/putting-the-brakes-on-miamis-run-and-gun Why do you believe the Heat struggle so much against a zone and are so reluctant to attack it, like they do so aggressively when facing a man defense? What do they need to do in order to change this and become more effective against a zone?

And, fortunately, I was wrong. Just a strained calf muscle. Good news for the Rockets and Lee.