Erick Blasco

I don't exactly have Houston's entire video archive...

Too much time slacking off, not enough time recording and editing. Finally, the third episode. Enjoy! Erick Blasco's NBA Gameplan EP3

http://www.basketbal...om/blog/?p=4453

This is the same Ridnour who has played his entire career except for that one nightmare season his last year in Seattle. Has anyone seen the quantum leap David Lee has taken in his jump shooting? He's an offensive weapon like he's never been before. Landry's just playing a little more, I don't know if his game has "improved" that much. He's always been nasty down low. I like the Varejao DPOY pick and kudos to Hollinger for not mentioning Battier. With how slow most NBA voters are, Battier will probably win DPOY this year for his work the last two seasons when he doesn't deserve to even be considered this year. Varejao's a defensive monster. The other candidate I'd like to see is LeBron. Unlike last year when his defense mostly consisted of transition blocks, he's a much better on-ball and help defender this year. I'd give Crawford the 6th man award for now, but I'd also have Andy V as an honorable mention. Can't disagree with anyone else. Thanks for posting this BFT, I hate how Hollinger's articles are insider only but he does have to support himself.

After the way they played against the Mavs, you could assume the Knicks were going to be focused on destroying an overmatched T-Wolves team. Good job by the Knicks of washing away their ugly loss to the Mavs with a through blowout.

Jeff Van Gundy is the best color guy going in the NBA, and he's up there with Collinsworth and Herbstreet as the best color guy in any sport. You're allowed to be a little annoying when your analysis is spot on and you're so funny.

I don't disagree with you at all, but you should try listening to a Cavs game for a few minutes. The color guy is mind numbingly awful and makes Drexler sound like Jeff Van Gundy---and Drexler's terrible.

lol, if he's the guy I heard, he doesn't have a New York accent at all. If I know anything, I know that I've lived in Brooklyn for 17 years and I've never heard any native New Yorker talk like that. The way his vowels are pronounced (Raptahs) made me think he was from New England. And why are the Knicks guys bad? The main color guy is Clyde Frazier. He's pretty simple and doesn't go completely in depth, but he's fair to both teams and doesn't root, at least not often. Sometimes he gets carried away with his vocabulary (confounding and astounding with their rebounding, swishing and dishing, driving and thriving, attacking the hoop with gusto), but I think it makes him fun. I have no problems with announcers pulling for their teams, I just don't appreciate crews that don't call what's happening on the floor because they have team-colored glasses on, and crews that automatically assume that every close call is clearly the refs fault or the other team's fault when it isn't, or at least is questionable.

Extremely professional.

I remember Golden State's team from earlier in the year. They do good work---shame their team is so bad. Toronto's broadcast team is that bad? They seemed alright in the five minutes or so I heard them. I remember that their color guy has an accent like a Boston accent and I wondered if all (Torontonians?) have an accent like that. Drexler is so, so bad.

A wonderful Video Essay on Jason Kidd's passing. I wish I knew how to embed. http://www.thetwomangame.com/2010/01/moving-pictures-simplify-simplify-simplify/

Maybe the only bad thing about the free league pass previews is hearing just how bad the announcers are for other teams. Just about everybody's a homer. Cleveland's team is probably the worst, and Clyde Drexler on Houston is almost as bad. Phoenix is another homer contest, and Denver was nothing special either. Portland, San Antonio (Sean Elliott), and Toronto's teams are less horrible. Only really Matt Guokas knows his stuff in Orlando. I'm spoiled that the Nets (when Jim Spanarkle calls a game) and Knicks have very objective analysts. Anyway, I guess this is a thread about the best and worst announcers. Are your local team's broadcasting crews any good? Who are your faves and least faves?

I don't see strength, toughness, or discipline, but I see a very nice jump shot. His post game and face up game are mediocre, his defense is bad, and according to a tweet from beat writer Alan Hahn, he's not the hardest worker in practice. Combine that with a philosophy that doesn't need bigs and he isn't going to play much. Landry doesn't play much either, but when Robinson was benched, he was an extra guard. Plus he brings it in practice, so naturally coaches will give him opportunities in games. You want minutes, work your [expletive] off. Coaches will always find minutes for players who work their asses off.

As Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, and Jason Kidd get up in age, this season may be the Dallas Mavericks’ last chance at seriously contending for a championship. Sensing this, the Mavs have quietly played excellent basketball and are currently a half game away from having the second best record in the Western Conference. But there was nothing quiet about Dallas’ matinee performance against the New York Knicks, a 128-78 apocalypse where Dallas obliterated the Knicks in every facet of the game. Equally as resonant was the fact that Dallas dominated without two starters, Erick Dampier and Jason Kidd. While certainly the Mavs can’t expect to routinely trounce their opposition by 50-plus points on the road, the contest does illuminate why the Mavs can still dream of hoisting a championship this spring. As usual, it starts with their defense. The Mavericks went under ball screens involving Chris Duhon and went between the Knicks’ various off-ball screens. Since Chris Duhon is not a finisher, and since he has struggled with his jump shot, giving up open shots to Duhon was worth not letting the Knicks continuity discover open shots. Duhon shot 2-7, missed all four of his threes, and the Knicks offense never opened up. Drew Gooden dominated David Lee, holding him to 11 points on 5-16 shooting, with 14 boards. Meanwhile, Gooden was consistently able to attack Lee off the dribble or with a short right hook at the basket. And Gooden was extremely active on the boards. For the duration, Gooden shot 6-11, pulled down 18 boards, and played exceptional screen defense, able to zone his area well preventing the Mavs from making radical defensive rotations. Shawn Marion likewise had a stellar defensive game, having the size and speed to defend New York’s pair of oversized wings in Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari. The Mavs initially had some trouble with baseline cross screens initiating Chandler post attempts over Jason Terry, but the Knicks only converted twice on their four Chandler post attempts. Rodrigue Beaubois has feline quickness into the passing lanes and moves his feet well on the perimeter. He can certainly develop into a premier defensive player at this level. In Beaubois, Marion, Quinton Ross, Josh Howard, and James Singleton, the Mavs have five players who smother the perimeter. With Dallas jamming all of New York’s weak-side action, going under most ball-screens, and covering ground on the perimeter, the Knicks were forced to resort to fruitless isolations and desperate chucking. Meanwhile, few teams convert transition opportunities as well as the Mavs. Terry and Howard love to leak out on closeouts and shoot in a broken field, Marion is an excellent finisher on the break, and Barea is quick and crafty with the ball. When Jason Kidd is healthy, he’s one of the best fast break decision makers of all time. The Mavs don’t unilaterally attack the rim in transition. Terry and Howard were just as likely to take (and make) pull-up 12-footers against the Knicks than to take the ball to the basket. In the halfcourt, if he’s had a subpar year shooting the ball, few players can heat up as quickly as Terry can—4-6 3FG. Beaubois is extremely inexperienced and it shows when he tries to run an offense—5 AST, 5 TO—but he consistently beat his man off the dribble and finished an electric over-the-head, backwards layup after getting mauled at the rim—count it, and the foul. When Jason Kidd calls it quits, Beaubois will step in Dallas’ starter of the future, no question about it. Barea is quick turning the corner on screen/rolls and makes smart decisions—5-9 FG, 4 AST, 0 TO, 11 PTS. Howard gave the bench serious firepower—3-6 FG, 1-2 3FG, 2 AST, 7 PTS. Dirk Nowitzki made five of his six jumpers in the third quarter. Dallas’ screen/roll game was lethal and the Knicks never made the right adjustments. Dallas’ subs continued to run their offense for much of the fourth quarter, meaning that Dallas’ backups are well versed on what the team is trying to accomplish. All in all, a thorough performance leading to a thorough drubbing. However, despite the lopsided score, it was hardly a perfect game. Nowitzki was surprisingly passive to open the game and wasn’t really involved. In the first half, three times he posted on the right box and missed turnaround fadeaways, he missed two open jumpers, and his only make was after a drive, pump, and reload which gained him time to sink a jumper. While he was much more assertive after the intermission, the Knicks had all but mailed in the game. Defensively, Dirk’s interior help was solid, but his contests on Jared Jeffries were weak. Throughout the opening half, Dirk’s hands were down or he was late to cover Jeffries, leading to JJ scoring 12 first quarter points. Dirk also allowed Gallinari to blow by him for a layup, and ate Jonathan Bender’s dust on a layup. Perhaps it was in Rick Carlisle’s gameplan to not challenge Jeffries too hard, but Dirk’s passivity won’t fly against the other multitalented power forwards he’ll face in the Western Conference. The Mavs gave up 22 offensive rebounds to the Knicks, not a disastrous total with the number of the Knicks’ long misses. The Mavs were late on numerous 20-footers by the Knicks’ big men. The Mavs defense was rarely severely tested because the Knicks rarely used the weak-side of the court with purpose. Howard and Terry were posted for profit. All in all though, it was a dominant performance by a talented team upset with itself after a disappointing loss to Philadelphia. Faced with playing a final game of an up-and-down road trip without two starters, in New York City, and at noon, the Mavericks displayed total focus on playing a crisp basketball game and beating the Knicks. The Mavs are certainly good enough to harbor dreams of winning the season’s Final game. Whether they’re good enough to actually make it happen will be a case for the second half of the season.

Dallas was very crisp on defense, and I think they were motivated by the Sixers loss. The Knicks had no answers.

Maybe they were updating the site? That would be my best guess. Just hold a few hours if one of the BP links is fried, they're usually pretty reliable.

Small mistake---the Miami-Boston game will be next Wednesday not this Wednesday. So hold out about 10 more days!

Being that they're the Clippers, making the playoffs is a nice morale boost for the franchise. It's different with them than say New Orleans who doesn't have a history of ineptitude, or the Grizzlies who will be better in the future anyway. The Clips arguably most talented player is on the wrong side of his career. If they were another franchise though, I think it would be cut and dry that they try to move him. They have a little bit of depth behind him and they could get something back, either a pick, or someone who projects to be a backup point guard.

This Wednesday night, barring something unforseen, I'll be watching the Heat closely in their game vs. Boston to see what they're all about. I'll give you a heads up after I write the article (either real early morning on Thursday or real late Thursday night (School starts back for me on Thursday), and I'll try to address some of the questions with in-game examples if possible.

It's working for me. Is anyone else having the same problem?

After starting out the season 14-3, the Phoenix Suns are in freefall, losing 16 of their last 27 games after a 115-104 home stinker to Chicago. After Terry Porter was canned and Alvin Gentry was hired as head coach the middle of last season, the Suns renewed their commitment to playing the fast-tempo offense stylized by Mike D’Antoni. The philosophy has brought the Suns more offensive harmony, but their defense is just as bad as ever. As always, the Suns offensive brilliance and defensive malfeasance starts with Steve Nash. The Bulls usually initiated their offense with a high middle screen. The big defending the screen would make a cursory show allowing Nash to go under and recover to the ball, but Nash, even in going under the screens, had trouble fighting through and getting back to his man. As a result, Derrick Rose was afforded a small fortune of wide open jump shots. On individual assignments with Rose, Nash was simply too small to offer any resistance, and his lack of a defensive first step allowed Rose and Hinrich to beat him at will. Despite being an average offensive team, the Bulls were able to set up everything they wanted to do against their compliant opponents. Not that the rest of the team is any better. Grant Hill was torched by Luol Deng’s rangy jumpers. Amar’e Stoudemire executed numerous poor defensive rotations and doesn’t play defense until his man has the ball. Goran Dragic, Leandro Barbosa, and Jason Richardson can’t guard their lunch money. Channing Fry was posted for profit by Joakim Noah. Robin Lopez is too stiff to provide much defensive resistance and was outworked on the boards by Joakim Noah, though he is also a sturdier presence than Channing Frye. The only semi-dependable defender in the Suns’ rotation is Jared Dudley who closes out well, has quick hands, always hustles, and covers a lot of ground. The Suns desperately tried to trap Rose’s screens but Rose would string the trap out, find Noah at the free throw line, and watch as Chicago had a 4-3 numbers advantage. The Suns also crashed everybody to the offensive glass—19 offensive rebounds—at the expense of not getting back in transition. Phoenix was carved up by Chicago’s speed and creativity on the break. Phoenix also tried to employ a shoddy zone, but after a few minutes of uncertainty, backcuts through the middle of the paint generated layups, and three-point shooting blasted the zone to smithereens. In sum, the Suns allowed the Bulls to shoot over 50 percent from the floor, 54 percent in effective field goal percentage, and commit only seven turnovers. With a defense that porous, the Suns offense has to be clicking on all cylinders to outscore their opponents. However, Steve Nash was rendered mortal—4-14 FG, 7 AST, 5 TO, 8 PTS—by Kirk Hinrich’s pitbull defense. Hinrich jammed Nash on outlet passes forcing Nash to come back to the ball. Then, Hinrich would pressure Nash lightly so that the Suns weren’t able to simply zip into their offense. Once the Suns were in the halfcourt, Hinrich would superglue himself to Nash with ample help from Chicago’s bigs cutting off driving lanes, and the weak side defense rotating over to cover Phoenix’ strong side safety valve. That Nash was so badly outplayed by Rose was bad enough—that Nash is the sun of Phoenix’ solar system made his poor performance catastrophic. Grant Hill plugged his corner threes and a had a sweet dunk in transition—6-15 FG, 3-5 3FG, 17 PTS—but is better off finishing plays made by others than creating his own offense. Amare Stoudemire came to play—8-15 FG, 7-10 FT, 23 PTS—but most of his points came off cookies by Nash, or by blasting away overmatched rookie Taj Gibson. Leandro Barbosa is in a perpetual state of playing out of control—2-7 FG, 2 AST, 0 TO, 5 PTS. He forced early shots, needless assaults on the rim, and when he puts his head down, he doesn’t give the ball up. And the slower the pace of the game, the less effective his recklessness becomes. Robin Lopez has a soft touch and can barrel his way to the paint on screen/rolls and finish with contact—3-4 FG, 3-4 FT, 9 PTS. Jason Richardson believes every shot he takes is a good one and plays with no discretion—6-17 FG, 0-5 3FG, 3 AST, 1 TO, 12 PTS. Goran Dragic—2-8 FT, 2 AST, 1TO, 5 PTS—forced a shot, couldn’t get separation off the dribble, couldn’t finish, and didn’t look like anything more than a generic backup point guard. Jared Dudley is a terrific three point shooter—2-2 3FG, 9 PTS—but three of his attempts at the basket were blocked. Channing Frye can also fill it up from outside—4-7 3 FG, 16 PTS—but he missed a layup and couldn’t back down Hinrich in the post after a switch resulting in a badly missed hook. Tally it all up and the Suns effective field goal percentage was under 45 percent, a number not good enough to compensate for their horrendous defense. The situation goes back to the events of last season. Many believed the Suns struggles were due to a defensive philosophy implemented by Terry Porter but not endorsed by the players. Others believed that Shaquille O’Neal was the scapegoat for Phoenix’ struggles. This year, Shaq is gone, Porter is gone, and the Suns are as committed to playing as free-wheeling a style of basketball as ever. Like last season, the players don’t want to defend, only this year they aren’t held accountable. So after their flash in the pan start to this season, the Suns are just as lost as they were last season. If they aren’t going to adapt, and if they aren’t going to get overwhelming offensive performances from the majority of their players, they’re not going to consistently win. At this rate, the rest of the Western Conference piranha will eat Phoenix alive.

In fairness, last year's deal was more of a salary move than anything. I don't know if they thought Shannan Brown would be as good as he's proven to be. Some teams would want Farmar, but he's a risk because he'll be a free agent. There's demand for Morrison's expiring, but I don't think there's any demand out there for Vujacic. They can use a tough big man who could shoot, an upgrade over Powell. They also could use a backup two guard. I wonder if they try to pry Kurt Thomas from the Bucks. He seems like a decent fit. Hinrich is too, but would the Bulls deal him for Farmar and Morrison? They can get more talent than that, and as a playoff team, I doubt they do too many radical things. They're not in a bad place salary-wise for next season. If they're going to shake it up, I bet it involves their expirings, or they get more back than Farmar and Morrison's expiring. They definitely don't want Vujacic.

It's the main reason why the Bucks haven't been able to even be mediocre.

The Spurs do still have to prove themselves. They have to prove that they can generate open looks, and they have to prove they can defend talented power forwards. A Lakers-Spurs game is critical for both sides. As for Boston, they've looked good against the good teams. Their defense has been stellar in big games, Rondo's been amazing, and Pierce looks as strong as ever. They don't miss too much defensively with Wallace in place of KG, and Boston never ran their offense through Garnett.

They're still a championship-caliber team when their threes fall. My main beef is that Duncan isn't automatic dominance so the Spurs' shooting has to be on. When it's not, they're ordinary. If the Spurs are shooting all right, I'd like to see how they match up against the Lakers WITH Gasol. They blasted the Lakers without him. I saw a bit of the Rockets game. They sure can beat any team that doesn't bring maximum energy, as much of the Western Conference has found out.