Built Ford Tough

Nice defense from Allen, but terrible clock management by Paul. He waitied way too long to make his move. The only bright side is that he made sure that the Grizzlies wouldn't have a chance to do anything, but still. He basically dribbled out the clock and played for overtime.

Grizz need to do a much better job of containing Paul's dribble on this final possession. He has been able to get to wherever he wants on the floor way too many times in this game. I know that is easier said than done since Paul is so crafty with the ball.

Even if the Clippers get past Memphis, I don't see any scenario, barring Parker, Duncan or Ginobili getting injured, where they beat the Spurs. They simply give up way too many points, whether it is off offensive rebounding, leaving points at the line or defensive breakdowns (looking at you, Jordan). You will dig your own grave with that kind of poor execution against San Antonio. This is assuming they get by the Grizzlies, which is far from a guarantee in its own right.

Smith's shutout streak comes to an end at around 164 minutes. Yotes still hold a 2-1 lead with 5 minutes left in the game, though. Should be a great final 5 minutes, although I really don't think it will be much different than the first 55. Nashville has been all over Phoenix for basically the entire game but up until moments ago couldn't solve Smith.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--bobcats-to-interview-mike-malone.html;_ylt=AspCiSXvshjGaIR8ibAGA5a8vLYF I highly doubt Malone will be interested in the job since him and Budenholzer are considered the two most highly regarded assistaints ready to make the jump to head coaching, and I'd be surprised if he took the Bobcat job as opposed to waiting for a better opportunity like Thibodeau did. As for Ewing, he seems to have been wanting to get a chance at a head coaching job for a while now, but never come close to getting a gig. I could see him jumping at any chance, even if it is a lousy one like the Charlotte gig, simply to try and prove himself as an NBA coach. The connection with Jordan is obviously another factor.

There is a press conference at the Air Canada Centre scheduled for 12PM EST tomorrow for a "big announcement" regarding Canada Basketball. Speculation is that it will be to confirm what has been speculated for months. Nash as GM, Triano as head coach, although it is not for sure. I can't really think about what else it would be, though.

Clippers, Evans and Griffin in particular, are really getting under the skin of Memphis' bigs over the last 3 or so minutes. That one Griffin up and under was a huge travel, though. I don't know how the refs could've missed one as blatant as that. He has played a very good 1st half offensively. His effort on the glass could be a lot better. One thing I don't understand from a Memphis standpoint is why they aren't running their offense through Gasol. There is absolutely no reason not to when he has an undersized Reggie Evans on him. The Grizzlies as a whole have just played really sloppy and uninspired ball over the past 6-7 minutes. They haven't looked like the tough, physical, focused team we've seen for much of the year.

I'm talking about plays that would've directly led to a win (or loss, depending on your viewpoint), though. Ovechkin's shot in Game 3, Backstrom icing the game tonight and Richards tying it. All three of those games directly resulted in either a win or a loss for their team. Obviously you can spin it in a way that is more favourable to the Rangers, like you did, and I'm not going to disagree with that. I'm strictly speaking from a standpoint where the game was basically won by a shot going post and in or lost by going post and out. I'm not taking a shot at the Rangers or anything because, to be perfectly honest, I don't care who wins any series. It was just a way of proving how the complexion of a series can be drastically altered by something as small as literally 1 inch here and 1 inch there.

So glad Griffin just jumped back up and didn't try to milk that foul from Gay. Why can't he do that more often? Just get up, knock down some freebies and play defense.

Him not covering the puck up didn't lead to the goal. However, I agree it was a bad one. I have no idea why he turned his body to the side like that. If he would've just stayed in the same position, Richards doesn't have room to get that shot off. Instead, he makes himself very small by turning to the side and it gave Richards the room on the short side to get a shot off. New York has had some real post luck in these games, though. In that 3OT game, Ovechkin's shot goes post and out. In this game, Richards' shot is literally less than an inch away from going post and out after Backstrom's breakaway hits the crossbar. It really is amazing how Washington could've won this series 4-1 if not for a matter of inches. Not trying to take anything away from the Rangers.

I think Valanciunas grew a couple inches this past year. He was measured at 6'11 prior to the draft last year, but... http://i45.tinypic.com/a25ic5.jpg 216cm would be just over 7'1. David Aldridge made a comment about him being 7'2 now and if this picture is accurate, that statement isn't far off.

I think that was the first bad goal I've seen Holtby let in during the playoffs.

Yeah, he is robably done. Second ACL/MCL tear (tore both back in college, I believe) and his back troubles are well known. He had a productive career, but I can't help to wonder just how good he would've been had he been able to stay healthy and not blow his knee out in college. He really had a freakish combination of size (for the point), strength, explosiveness and speed. His best year in the league was back in 2003-04 when he put up 22.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 7.5 apg and 2.4 spg with a 20.1 PER. His efficiency was poor (49.5 TS%) and I would be willing to bet if he was able to stay healthy throughout his career we would've saw more seasons like this one. He would likely never be a very efficient player as his jumper was way too streaky, but still, I think he could've had prime averages of around: 24/5/8/2.5 on around a 52-53 TS% All things considered, he did manage to have a successful career and it sucks that it will end much like it began, battling injuries.

Why? What exactly did he improve on? Last season numbers, per 36: 17.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.4 3PM This season numbers, per 36: 18.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 3.0 3PM Last year he had a PER of 19, TS% of 59, TRB% of 14.5, ORTG of 122, DRTG of 101 This year he had a PER of 21.2, TS% of 58.9, TRB% of 13.8, ORTG of 124, DRTG of 105 He is basically exactly the same player as he was last season. The only difference? He played 10 more minutes per game this year.

Still. That would be like me saying the Raptors last home playoff loss was April 26th, 2008, ignoring the fact that was the last time the Raptors played a home playoff game. Anyways, looking forward to actually being able to watch a game in this series. Haven't been able to watch one yet, which sucks since this really seems to be the only compelling series going. Everything else has been pretty much a bore, aside from the first two games of the OKC/Dallas series (but you knew once Dallas dropped those two close games that the series was over).

Couple of transfer news: 1. Josiah Turner, the big catch of Arizona's recruiting class last year, is transfering to SMU to play under Larry Brown after a freshman year full of conflict with Sean Miller, suspensions and what not. 2. After Turner transfered, 5th-year senior Mark Lyons transfered from Xavier to Arizona. Since there is no mandatory redshirt year for graduate students, Lyons will likely be the starting point guard for the Wildcats next year. In recruiting news, Anthony Bennett is down to two schools and, surprisingly, both Florida and Kentucky aren't in his final two. He will choose between UNLV and Oregon and is expected to announce his decision soon (and he has to since the signing period ends May 16th). He said Beal entering the draft was a big reason for not considering Florida, who was speculated to be the leading candidate for much of his recruiting. As for Kentucky, no reason was given but he just felt it wasn't the right fit for him. So the two schools that were considered to be the distant 3rd and 4th choice are now the two he will choose between. I'd have to guess that UNLV will be his choice considering he played his college ball in Vegas. Also, with Bennett not going to Kentucky it means that UCLA will officially have the #1 recruiting class for 2012, marking an end to Kentucky's 3 year reign.

Bulls should seriously amnesty Boozer.

Without a doubt the best performance I've seen from Morrow since his CG, 1H, 17K game against the Rays 2 years back. Was absolutely dominant tonight. Faced just 28 batters and was at the minimum heading into the 9th before Trumbo's leadoff double. He managed to get the next 3 to cap off the CG, 2H shutout.

I'd place the blame on Gus and Schenn for deciding to take an absolutely retraded change. That was the reason for the goal more than anything. Just a brutal change from those two.

Most of the time he seems like the whipping boy. If something doesn't go right, blame Chalmers. He really doesn't play nearly as bad as what many Heat fans make it seem like. I'm not saying he is a star or anything, but he does pretty much what you want from a role player point guard playing next to James and Wade. Sure, you would love for him to be more consistent but whenever I see him play he isn't nearly as bad as many people make him out to be. Of course you guys see him more often than I do so maybe I just happen to always catch him on his good days, but I really don't understand the hate he gets.

Role players aren't. Superstars can do whatever they damn well please.

Oh hey Bosh, you are actually playing? I didn't realize.

Anthony looks absolutely gassed. LeBron getting into foul trouble early in the 3rd might've been the best thing to happen for Miami in this game. It allowed him to get around 30 minutes (real time) of rest, got Wade into the game and then when he came back into the game he was had so much more energy than anybody else on the floor.

I'm actually surprised he didn't get a tech. After all, you aren't allowed to show emotion anymore.

James is going to dominate in the 4th. I just get a feeling that we will see him go out and have a vintage, Cav type 4th quarter performance. EDIT: And as I flip back to the game I see he has 8 points already.