Built Ford Tough

Calderon is guarding Crawford.

And DeRozan launches an airball after the timeout. 0-4 to start. Awesome. At least he made a wide open layup, though. Baby steps, I guess.

Is it sad that I have basically lost interest in this game already? Seeing DeRozan launch 3 bricks to start the game and then seeing Portland go on an 11-0 run immediately killed any interest I had in this game. If only the lockout wiped out the whole season so I wouldn't have to force myself to watch this shit.

I was on the Kyrie Irving bandwagon before he even set foot at Duke but once the Raptors didn't win the lottery, I stopped pimping him out because I knew there was no chance that they would be able to draft him. I also found the whole Williams/Irving debate hilarious as I knew there was no way that the Cavs would pass on Kyrie and he is showing this season just how good he is. I was really high on Valanciunas and he was my number one pick, but I didn't hype him as much on here either, simply because I thought there was no way that the Cavs pass him up at 4. The potential of pairing up Irving and Valanciunas was just too great to pass up in my opinion. So when the Cavs did pass on him to take Thompson I was absolutely estatic when the Raptors picked him. I was pulling for Knight at the time of the draft but when Val fell I was very pleased. Other than Val, I was pulling for Knight (as I said above) and Kanter (although I fully expected him to go 3rd). I would've been fine with Walker as well. I was completely against taking Vesely or Biyombo. Luckily for me, Valanciunas did fall because if he hadn't, Biyombo would've been the Raptors pick. He has bust written all over him if you ask me. Walking away from the draft with Biyombo would've been brutal.

Harris has fallen off quite a bit since he made the All-Star team with Jersey a few years ago so I can't imagine him having a whole lot of value around the league. However, there are some teams that are in desperate need of a point guard so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he is eventually moved. The question is to where? To the Lakers for the Odom TPE (if it is large enough, I can't remember) and a 2nd or something? Would the Knicks be interested if Davis bombs?

Dwight probably has the best chance because of the shooters around him. He is pretty much a lock for double digits in points and rebounding every night and he has had some pretty great nights blocking shots. If guys like Redick, Nelson, Turkoglu, Anderson and Richardson are hot and teams double Howard in the post he has the best chance out of anybody. I doubt teams would continue to double him if the Magic are raining down 20 3's on them, but who knows. However, this would also have to happen on the same night as him getting into a freakish zone defensively which makes the odds even more miniscule. He really is the only player I can see doing it, but even then, I would be shocked if I ever saw him actually do it. It would just need to be a perfect storm of good fortune. Seriously? You think it would be harder for him to get 10 rebounds than 10 steals?

Sounds like no Bargnani or Bayless tonight. Do the Raptors crack 85 points tonight? Portland is pretty terrible on the road, but then again, the Raptors offense is just putrid.

Harrison Barnes with a great game tonight against Virgina Tech. 27 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals on 8-14 shooting (1-3 from three) and 10-12 from the free throw line. What is even more impressive than his numbers, which are impressive, is how he bounced back from a poor shooting first half. I think he had 6 points on 2-6 or 2-7shooting at the end of the first half and UNC was trailing by around 5 points. He came out int he second half and scored 21 points on something like 6-7 or 6-8 shooting and brought his team from down 5 to winning the game by 14 (lead was as high as 21 at one point, though). He also wasn't just shooting jumpers like he is known for, although he had some beautiful step back and pull up jumpers. He managed to do a great job of getting into the paint and getting to line. His game is so smooth and, while he may not ever live up to the initial hype of being the next Kobe, he is going to be a damn good player whenever he decides to make the jump to the NBA. If the Raptors aren't able to land a top 2 pick and get one of Davis or Drummond (assuming he declares like I think he will), Barnes is without a doubt my next choice. Love his game.

Not a bad look there. Belinelli did a nice job of spinning off the defender to get himself a clear look at the basket but it just rimmed out. Nice comeback win for the Rockets as it looked like the Hornets were going to walk away with a fairly easy win after the start they got off to in overtime.

I don't think anybody actually thought he was a great prospect. He was young, cheap and there was a chance, a small one but a chance none the less, that he could become a decent all around role player. Nice put back from Dalembert to give the Rockets the 2 point lead with 11 seconds left in OT. 7-0 Rocket run to get them in a position where their defense can win them the game.

You'll see Kobe early in the 4th to try and cut the lead to around 10 or so before the 6 minute mark. If it is still a double digit lead after that point, Brown probably waves the white flag and rests his stars for the Magic tomorrow. LeBron will probably come in when Kobe does to defend him. EDIT: And as I type that both come in, haha.

Definitely. Too bad he has absolutely nothing to work with on the Island. Moulson isn't bad or anything, but it is clear that Tavares makes him look much, much better than he is. Same thing for Parenteau. Put him with a Marty St. Louis and he is nearly as productive as Stamkos in my opinion. He wouldn't put up the 50-55 goals that Stammer does, but I would not be surprised at all to see him be a 40 goal/50-55 assist type of guy if he actually had some actual high end talent to play with. Love his game.

Yup. I know Mike Brown likes to run the '4 out, 1 in' offense but the only way that offense is effective is if you have a stretch 4, which Gasol is not, and a guy who can constantly get into the paint to draw the defense and get open looks for the shooters, which Kobe can't do at this point in his career. There are some very ugly possessions offensively for this team when Kobe isn't feeling it or they can't get Bynum single coverage on the low block, which rarely happens because the book it out on him. Double him and he can't do a thing.

Gasol looks clueless out there right now. Allowing Bosh to walk right by him (going to his left, no less) on defense, camping out behind the 3 point line on offense and then throwing a pass into an area with two Heat players and no Lakers. James starting to take over right now. Barnes has no chance of guarding him.

Lmao, Barnes was so scared of LeBron getting another highlight reel block on him that he completely forgot about Anthony, who got an even better block than the James one earlier. Poor guy.

Nice little run to start the half from the Lakers. Lead should be down to single digits if not for another vintage LeBron transition block.

Jefferson has performed basically the exact same at home as he has on the road. His career averages at home are 16.8 ppg/5.1 rpg/2.8 apg on 47.5 FG% and 37.2 3PT% His career averages on the road are 15.8 ppg/4.8 rpg/2.5 apg on 46.4 FG% and 36.8 3PT% If you want to just look at his time in San Antonio, it is still pretty much an even split: Last season at home he averaged 11.3/4.1/1.1 on 48.6%/44.7% Last season on the road he averaged 10.7/3.6/1.5 on 46.2%/43.2% 2009/10 was pretty much the same as well. He averaged a point less on the road, but grabbed a board more on the road. Bonner's career home/road splits are even closer than Jeffersons. Although this year he (Jefferson) has played noticeably worse on the road (3 less points and shooting 10% worse), so that defintiely could be a factor for the Spurs struggles on the road. I probably should have looked at that first, haha.

Picture of Taylor Hall after he got that skate in the face the other night in warmup. http://nationalpostsports.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/0119hall.jpg?w=620

It still doesn't change the fact that if he plays like even an average player for the first 11:59 of the 4th quarter that he doesn't need to his a desperation three to win the game because his team would be up by 5 or 6 like they should've been. The guy can hit big shots, I'm not saying otherwise, but hitting one shot with 1second to give his team the lead does not make him clutch if he bricked 6 in a row before that to put his team in that position in the first place. Goon on him for hitting the game winner, but he was the biggest reason (along with terrible defense on the final two Terry threes) for his team needing a bailout three to win a game that they should've otherwise won fairly easily.

It was really fun to watch the Duncan/Dwight battle, even if Duncan, at his age, was severely overmatched physically against the in his prime Howard. Despite the huge physical advantage Dwight had over Duncan, I thought Timmy still played him really well. He struggled keeping him off of the glass but other than that he did a great job of using his smarts and veteran savy to contain Howard as best as you could expect. Parker went off in that 4th, though. He seemed to be coasting for much of the game but something changed in the 4th. I don't know it Pop said something to him or he just flipped a switch himself, but he was playing like a completely different player. No Magic player could defend him. Leonard did a nice job of defending Nelson and Redick when he was matched up on them. He really is a good defensive player for a rookie and, if he keeps it up, has the potential to become one of the best defenders in the league in his prime. Tough break for the Magic at the end of OT. Anderson gets a great look at the basket from three but just couldn't knock it down. Then they get the offensive rebound and Redick makes a great pump fake to free himself up for the open look but in the process of doing so, he messed up his footwork which required him to take a dribble in order to get his feet set. Unfortunately for the Magic, there wasn't enough time for him to take that dribble and the clock expired before he was able to get the shot off, a shot that you knew before it even left his hands was going to do in. The weirdest moment of the game was definitely Glenn Davis' technical. Did anybody see him run up to the ref and pull his own shorts down when arguing the foul called against him on a Jefferson oop? One of the most bizzare things I have seen in a long, long time.

Young is so streaky it isn't funny. He looked like complete shit in the 1st half and then in the 2nd it seemed like he couldn't miss anything. He takes a lot of stupid shots still, but I can't blame him when you hit a bunch in a row like he did for taking some heat check jumpers. Him getting hot from 3 really opened up the rest of the floor for his teammates. Wall did a nice job of getting to the line but he still needs a lot of work on his jumper and finishing around the basket. I know he hit a few jumpers last night, but it is still way too inconsistent. I don't just mean how often he makes it, but his form itself seems to change on every 2nd jumper he takes. He needs to tighten that up. I was impressed with how he played under control, though. Most games he runs around going full speed and gets himself in trouble because of it. Last night he did a nice job of mixing speeds and staying in control, which enabled him to make passes that he otherwise wouldn't have been able to make. That transition three he set up for, I believe, Young and the pass that led to a McGee foul late in the 4th are the two best examples of this. He also did a great job of playing help defense tonight. He didn't do a great job on Westbrook, but he did a nice job of getting in the passing lanes and drawing charges like that one on Durant in the final 30 seconds or so. I like Vesely's energy. He is never going to be much of a threat with the ball in his hands (at least in my opinion, an opinion I had before he was even drafted) but he does a great job of moving without the ball, running the lanes, getting on the glass and creating plenty of scoring opportunities through hustle plays like that. On a team with so many low IQ, ball dominant players, he is a much needed fit. McGee really needs to stop goaltending everything. I know he is a great shot blocker and he wants to contest everything, but he needs to reel himself in a bit. Some of the goaltends that he does are just retarded, especially those ones that he does after a foul is called. For the Thunder it just looked like Durant and Westbrook ran out of gas at the end. Nobody else really provided much offensive help as Harden was struggling and they did a great job of carrying the team in the first three quarters, but in the 4th they were both pressing and forcing things that weren't there. Durant made some very questionable decisions with the ball that led to two huge charges going against him. They were both great in the first three quarters, though.

A lob for Mahinmi? Umm.... ok?

I still stand by what I said, though. If Billups makes one of those 5 bricks he puts up earlier or doesn't make that brutal giveaway that led to the Terry transition three, in the quarter he doesn't even need to hit that shot because this game would be otu of reach, like it should have. Nice shot, though.

Nice play from the Clipps. Really did a great job of using Butler as a decoy.

Nah, that should be, and will be, Clippers ball. Kind of lucky that the refs reviewed this. Basically a free time out for the Clippers as they don't have any left.