Built Ford Tough

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20121229_PHO@MIN

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20121229_DEN@MEM

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20121229_WAS@CHI

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20121229_IND@ATL

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/gametracker/recap/NBA_20121229_NO@CHA

I only watched the first half before I went to sleep last night so I can't comment on anything that happened in the 2nd half, but I really liked what I saw from the Barnes last night. It was the first time in a while (at least in games that I've watched) where he actually had an impact on the game. He was in a nice rhythym on offense mixing up his perimeter shots with some nice drives to the paint (one that resulted in trip to the chairity stripe and another nice floater over Collins). There was one very nice triple threat jab step he had on Pierce to set up an 18 footer. I know he isn't playing great or anything, but when he is on he is so smooth to watch. The guy just looks like a basketball player. I've also been pretty impressed by Sullinger from what I've seen. It has only been around 7 quarters (the Christmas game against Brooklyn, 1 quarter against the Clipps and the first half in this one) but I like what I've seen. The easiest way to put it is to say that he is basically playing exactly like he did in his two years at OSU, which is a big compliment considering how good he was there and the fact that so many people questioned whether he would be able to in the pros due to his lack of length and athleticism.

Alan Anderson's chucking is just painful to watch. I like Fields' energy so far. He's been really active setting off-ball screens, cutting and on defense. Too bad Anderson has decided to look him off in favour of jacking up ill advised jumpers because he was wide open underneath on two occasions off of great cuts. EDIT: And as I type this, he gets two consecutive offensive boards.

Honestly, I'm hoping for a 9th place finish this year. I don't trust this team to not end up sucking massively either this year or next year and it would kill me to give OKC a top 5 pick in a loaded draft next year. I just want to get that owed pick over and done with. As far as this game goes, I've only caught about 5 minutes since I got off work when it started, but I really like what I've seen from Lowry and DeRozan in that short time. DeMar looks like a much different player when he plays alongside an attacking point guard. I'm surprised that the Raptors got off to such a good start. I thought for sure they'd be lethargic as hell in the first quarter, not go and drop a season high 1st quarter scoring output.

And whattaya know, I look like an idiot again by jumping the gun on a very young Bruins team. Impressive overtime win against Mizzou tonight. They looked like a vastly different team compared to the last time I watched them, which was the Texas game that resulted in me making this post that I am quoting. Much better ball movement, a lot crisper offensive execution and playing at a faster pace has really got this team playing well. It also doesn't hurt that Muhammad is finally in shape and is averaging 25 ppg on 54.4 FG% and 50% from deep over his last 4. He is still a complete blackhole (he has taken 66 shots and has just 5 assists in his last 4 games) but at least now he is scoring the ball efficiently unlike earlier in the year. It is definitely no coincidence that UCLA is looking a lot better now that Bazz is in shape and producing. They still have a lot of work to do, but they have made tremendous strides since the last tiem I saw them play. At least I can still take solace in the fact that Phil Pressey dominated Larry Drew tonight. He dropped 19 points and 19 dimes (would've been 20 if not for a blown wide open layup) tonight.

Don't know how the Raptors managed to pull out the win by looking at the box score: http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/a577/bobafett8/ScreenShot2012-12-28at74640PM_zps8f14193a.png

Raptors epic 4th quarter meltdown #3401976 complete.

I love watching Rivers. He does everything backwards. Two men all over me? Jack it up! Wide open layup? Kick it out to a covered teammate!

Casey takes out Ed Davis to matchup with the Hornets going small, despite the fact that the Raptors were vastly outplaying them, and New Orleans proceeds to cut the lead from 13 to 5. Typical Raptors 4th quarter. Go away from what is working and give up a lead.

Nice first half for Lowry. I believe they were down 19-11 when he checked in and they finished the rest of the half on a 37-23 run. He played smart ball, didn't take any stupid risks or shots and, my personal favourite, was playing physical, pressure defense. He definitely outplayed Calderon in that half. Hopefully this is how he will play from here on out, but I'm going to need to see more than 10 minutes before I can say anything one way or the other. Aside from that, all you really need to know about the first half was that Aaron Gray gave the end of the first interview. Yeah, this has been ugly.

Lowry back for this one, although Calderon will still be starting. I really, really hope that Lowry is fully healthy this time and plays like he was at the beginning of the year (not necessarily those gaudy numbers, but just the way he was playing) because, as much as I like how Calderon has played filling in for Lowry, I really don't like all the talk about Calderon starting for the year, Lowry being on the trade block instead of Calderon, etc...

I can't agree with that (them being equally as bad). By no means am I saying that Waiters hasn't been bad this year, but he hasn't been Rivers bad. Per 36 minutes Waiters is averaging 16.5 ppg, 3.9 apg, 1.3 spg. Per 36 minutes Rivers is averaging 9.8 ppg, 3.4 apg, 0.8 spg. Both of their advanced stats are terrible, but, again, Rivers has him clearly beat on the incompetence radar. Waiters - 11.5 PER, 45.2 TS%, 25 USG% with 10.9 TOV%, OPP PER of 15.6 Rivers - 6.7 PER, 42.5 TS%, 17.8 USG% with a 13.7 TOV%, OPP PER of 18 I can't even use the whole "draft placement" argument because everybody and their mother knows (except for Cleveland, I guess) that Waiters was a huge reach at 4 and shouldn't even have been considered in the top 8. I can agree that Rivers horrible start to the year has taken some of the attention off of Waiters, but they definitely haven't sucked equally.

Lol at Reggie and Webber basically calling Sullinger fat (without actually saying the word fat) on national tv. And oh yeah, Jeff Green is awful.

The rest is an insider article so I won't post anymore, but basically Rivers is on pace to have the single worst WARP (wins above replacement player) of any player in the 3 point era. He is on pace for a -6.9 WARP which would surpass Jason Collins' -6.5 mark that he had in 2006-2007. The author, Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus, doesn't try to clam that this is an end all stat or anything and that certain players like defensive specialists who put up little to no stats, like Collins, don't usually reflect well in WARP. He also acknowledges that in order to have a historically bad WARP you actually have to be good enough to get minutes and mentions that players that limited players who get overexposed on bad teams, such as rookies like Rivers, tend to rate poorly as well. I just found it interesting just how badly he has been this year not only via the eye test, but basically every statisitical metric out there as well.

The look on Cuban's face as Mayo misses the first 2 of 3 free throws was priceless.

As a depressed hockey fan, it was nice to see a game tying one timer before the year ended. Who cares if it was the wrong sport?

It is a combination of their schedule easing up (they beat Dallas, Houston, Cleveland, Orlando and Detroit during their 5 game winning streak) and Bargnani (and, honestly, Lowry as well) being out of the lineup. They play as a team on offense a lot more without those two, which is definitely needed when you consider that the team doesn't have anybody who can really break down the defense or create for others on a consistent basis. They need to move the ball well in order to score. Having Bargnani not playing 35 minutes a night is a huge boost to their defense, especially since Ed Davis is the best defender (and, in my opinion, the best player this year) on the team by a wide margin. They've definitely played better over the last handful of games without Bargnani or Lowry out there but I won't say it is all because of those two (or just Bargnani) being out of the lineup since having a homestand and easier road games made a difference as well. They basically haven't played any differently during their 5 game winning streak as they did tonight, but tonight they went up against a vastly superior team and, well, you know the result. PS: It was Ed Davis who had that huge dunk in the 2nd quarter, not Amir.

I had the game on but wasn't paying a lot of attention since there was a bunch of family around and what not, but from what I did see he was really bothered but Dwight. Felton would get by Nash and get into the lane, but Howard was forcing him to put a lot of arc on his floaters or put his layup attempts much higher on the glass than you normally would and a lot of his misses were because of that. I don't really recall him taking very many bad or questionable shots, it was just more so him trying to overcompensate for Howard's presence defensively.

How can you distinguish between them? They're all hideous. The Knick ones actually hurt my eyes. As for this game, Chicago just doesn't have the offense to come back whenever they are faced with a 15+ point lead. I don't watch a lot of Bulls games but I wouldn't be surprised at all if they haven't erased a large defecit all season long. They are fine if they can smother you with their defensive pressure and force you into an ugly, grind it out type of game but the minute the opposition establishes a significant lead you might as well stick a fork in the Bulls, at least based on what I've seen so far. They simply don't have the offensive ability to be able to dig themselves out of a hole. Full credit to the Rockets for coming out early and establishing that this game would be played at their pace.

It was actually Martin or Durant who blew the defensive rotation. Perkins did exactly what he was supposed to do, which was move to the strong side to provide Westbrook with the help he would need to guard LeBron in the post. He pointed at Bosh and communicated with his teammates that he was going over to help and that one of the wings needed to rotate down into the paint to prevent Bosh from ducking in for an easy layup but that rotation never came. I believe it was Martin who was supposed to rotate down, but I'm not 100% sure. Either way, that was on whoever blew the second rotation, not on Perkins. He did what he was supposed to do in that situation.

Crazy game. The Lakers are going to be scary good offensively when (if) Dwight gets 100%. A Nash/Howard pick and roll with Kobe as an outlet is just filthy. They need to do a lot more of that than having Kobe play hero ball.