Built Ford Tough

Calling it now, Lowry will be getting ejected before this game is over. He has been getting absolutely shafted by the refs and is heated. Pretty funny how Westbrook can get away with slamming the ball, screaming "My foot didn't [expletive]ing move, man!" and then dropping multiplce curses at the ref and not get T'd up, yet Lowry was less demonstrative in the first half and got instantly T'd up. PS: I hope nobody thinks I'm trying to imply that the refs are the reason the Raptors are losing because that is certainly not the case. They have been absolutely awful in the 3rd quarter (like I called earlier in this thread) and fully deserve to be down double digits based on that. It is just extremely frusturating seeing such a double standard. It is like the two teams are playing with seperate rule books and it makes for a very unentertaining basketball game. Case in point, that carry call on Anderson. You are telling me that he did anything that Westbrook, Durant or any other player in the NBA doesn't do on that post up? Please.

Awesome stat. Raptors had 22 points in the paint in the first half. They attempted 1 free throw. OKC wasn't parading to the FT line either (9 attempts) but the level of physicality they were allowed to play with was noticeably higher than what the Raptors were allowed to do.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20130105_UTA@DEN

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20130105_PHI@SA

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20130105_NO@DAL

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20130105_MIL@IND

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20130105_BOS@ATL

Alan Anderson is on fire. 6-6, 4-4 from three and 17 points in 9 minutes.

Lowry gets hit on another layup, gives the ref a pice of his mind and gets T'd up. I think everybody saw that coming. I still can't even get excited about this only being a 2 point game because you just know that OKC will either go on a run to close out the 2nd half or to start the 3rd and blow this game open.

Now Collison draws a charge on Lowry despite being in the restricted zone and not establishing position. I can tell this is going to be a very frusturating game, especially since you know that OKC can just flip a switch ang build a 15 point lead whenever they want.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/225420/Love_Refractures_Right_Hand I haven't really watched many T'Wolves games since Love returned, but I did read on Twitter last night (when I first saw that he refractured his hand) that there was talk about him possibly coming back too soon, although Love himself denied that was the case. Anyways, tough luck for the Wolves since they're going to be in a tough fight for that final playoff spot in the West.

Durant hits DeRozan on the arm, body and head and DeRozan doesn't get the call despite a ref being 5 feet away with a clear view of the contact. I don't think I've ever seen Casey so animated at a non-call. He jumped off the bench and ran towards the baseline ref screaming. Calderon needs to get his ass sit on the bench. Westbrook is abusing him on both ends of the floor.

I wouldn't. He is one of the most overpaid players in the league, perhaps the most overpaid. I know I'll sound like a homer, but I wouldn't trade DeRozan for Gay straight up. DeMar - 18.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.9 apg with a TS% of 52.4% and a PER of 15.5 Gay - 18 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.6 apg with a TS% of 48.7% and a PER of 15.3 Want to argue Gay is having a down season? Ok, well, lets use last season then. 19.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.3 apg with a TS% of 52.1% and a PER of 17.8 Gay is one of those guys who looks fantastic when you watch him because of how smooth he looks due to his athleticism making everything look effortless, but in actuality, he is a ball dominant, inefficient scorer who gives you solid rebounding and little else. Basically, a 6'9 version of DeRozan who also happens to be paid near the max. To make matters worse, any Gay deal that doesn't see somebody like Kleiza or Fields go the other way puts the Raptors deep into the tax territory and even amnestying Bargnani wouldn't get them out of that. Would you really want to be locked into a DeRozan, Gay, Valanciunas core (no chance of a Lowry extension if Gay's contract is on the books) for the next 4 years?

Shouldn't be a surprise. Who do the Raptors have to guard him? Gray is a bonafide scrub and can barely even move. Amir and Ed are giving up damn near 60 pounds to him.

Ross looks to have found the range on his 3 point shot. People were talking about his shooting struggles earlier in the season but if you looked a bit deeper into the numbers you would see that his jumper was actually fine. He was just struggling from the NBA 3 point line, but was shooting around 47% from the college 3. He looks a lot more comfortable launching from the NBA 3 now. Not counting this game, he is shooting 10-21 from deep in his last 6 games and that includes an 0-6 game against the Hornets. I still would've prefered Andre Drummond instead of Ross, but from what I have seen of him over the past month, I'm quickly becoming a fan. His defense is going to be lockdown calibre when he adds some muscle and continues to gain experience. You gotta love the Raptors' point guards statline. 0 points, 3 shots and 22 assists between Lowry and Calderon.

Looked like I missed a very good first half with DeRozan, Ross and Davis all having great production. Speaking of Davis, it is amazing the progress he has made from last year. He looks to much more comfortable with the ball in his hands on offense. I've always been a big Davis fan, but I figured offensively he would never be more than a garbage man, 2nd chance type of player but based on what I've seen from him since he's been starting, I think he'll be much more than that. If he ever develops his right hand, I can see him being a very difficult guard.

A fairly interesting piece from Isiah Thomas on NBA.com about how he feels the NBA is changing and the big man is starting to become more and more obsolete. http://www.nba.com/2012/news/12/27/isiah-thomas-evolution-of-the-point-guard/index.html What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that Thomas is right and that the NBA is moving away from big men because of the way the game is changing? Or do you thinkt he reason why more and more teams are going small is because of the dearth of quality centers in the league?

Oh, I know. They are much improved defensively from the past few years. That wasn't intended to be a shot at the Spurs defense or anything because I know they've been very good defensively (not sure if they are top 5 or not, but I'm pretty sure they're close) but they aren't one of the greatest defensive teams ever like they were back in the early 2000's. That was all I meant.

Sheesh, Brooklyn is a mess. It's not like this is the early 2000 Spurs defending you out there, either.

Canada represent! Pangos with 23 points, 4 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals on 7-12 shooting. Olynyk with 21 points (all in the 2nd half) and 9 boards on 7-12 shooting. Pangos hit the two free throws to ice the game after Marcus Smart (who was awesome in this game as well with 23/4/6 on 9-15) missed two in a row that would've tied the game at 65. He also had a really nice drive and kick to Bell for the 3 that put Zaga up by 2 with 30 seconds left. He didn't score the ball much in that half, but I was impressed by the way he controlled the tempo and ran the offense, ensuring that Olynyk was getting the ball. I mentioned in the above post how Gonzaga needed Olynyk to stay on the floor and, even though he ended up fouling out, he was huge in the half. He really took it to the Cowboys down low. Him and Harris have some really nice chemistry on that high-low big-to-big feed. Oklahoma State just didn't have an answer for his size and skill not only down low, but on the perimeter as well. Very nice game. Also, I have to give it up for Few. Great job of switching up the game plan in the 2nd half and making sure to work inside/out and through their bigs. Their guards did a great job of setting brush screens to allow them to establish position down low and they also did a much better job of feeding the post. I thought it was a very well coached 2nd half for Few. EDIT: In a somewhat related note, I just realized now that I actually played against Kelly Olynyk when he was playing for the South Kamloops Titans in high school. Not only did I play against him, I was actually matched up with him as well. He dropped like 45/20 on me. After the game I decided to look up what high school he went to. I knew was from Kamloops and I remembered playing against a dominant big man from South Kamloops and after looking up where Olynyk went to high school, I realized it was actually him. I doubt anybody really cares, but I thought it was pretty cool.

Safe to say that Kevin Pangos' shooting slump has come to a close. He had 31 points on 10-13 FG (7-10 from 3) the Friday against against Baylor and in the 1st half against Oklahoma State he has 18 points on 6-9 FG (3-5 from 3). Prior to the Baylor game he was averaging 9.9 ppg on 37.8 FG% and 36% from 3. I was surprised to see him struggling shooting the ball so much (hadn't watched any Zags games prior ) when I saw them show his shooting woes against the Bears since I know how good of a shooter he is. Glad to see his stroke coming back to him. On another note, Gonzaga really struggled with the Cowboys athleticism. Once OK State made the adjustment to really pressure the ball it completely ruined any and all offense that Gonzaga got, aside from Pangos' hot shooting. The Zags had built a 10 or so point lead but they could barely even get the ball to the 3 point line against the quicker, longer, more athletic Cowboy players. That is defintiely going to be the key in the 2nd half. Few is going to have make some serous adjustments in the 2nd half or else I can see OK State breaking this game open, which is weird to say since they are leading the game and were the better team for much of that first half. They can't rely on Pangos hitting bail out jumpers late in the shot clock. Almost everything they've gotten on offense has come directly from him (has 4 assists to go along with his 18 points). It is also going to be crucial for Olynyk to stay on the floor in the 2nd half.

What happened? I'm busy watching the Gonzaga/OK State game but was planning on catching this game later (on another note, is this even worth watching later? haha)

Bulls offense is painful to watch without Rose in the lineup, and I watched the Raptors offense last year as well as disaster that was the Kevin O'Neil season, so I know a thing or two about painful offenses. Not even being able to crack 85 points against an MKG-less Bobcats team is just brutal. The Bulls scored 81 pints, which 23 less points than what Charlotte is giving up on the season (104.5). Kudos to Charlotte for ending their 18 game losing streak, though. Is it just me or was hardly anybody even talking about this dreadful streak? Either way, they got their 8th win of the season, which is more than they got all last season.

The thing is though, he isn't all that talented. At least certainly not enough to warrant the headaches that you knew would inevtiably come. His college numbers were nice, don't get me wrong, but a lot of that was due to him bullying the shit out of everybody and having the ball in his hands so often. He was an inefficient scorer (53 TS%), didn't have a great PER (22 for a college player isn't bad, but it isn't that great either) and turned the ball over at a very high rate (23%). Add to all of this his tweener status and being a lousy defender at both the 3 or the 4 and you don't really have that great of a prospect on your hands. The fact that he is bat shit crazy is the icing on the cake. Dude is basically Delonte West. An average NBA talent (although I do like West as a role player combo guard) who's negatives off the court vastly outweigh any positives they bring on the court.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20121229_PHI@POR