A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: 100% Injury Rate. Hawks' bust Jon Koncak will be honored during a halftime ceremony tomorrow night.
PF: Ohio.com. Hey, think you can you rebound the ball a little? Good. Suit up. The Cavs need a few guys.
SF: Sactown Royalty. How much would you pay for Kings' guard Beno Udrih? $4 mil? $5 mil?
SG: Posting & Toasting. Satire for the good! Isiah Thomas, working the trade deadline phones.
PG: Respect Kobe. Yesterday it was Chris Paul. Today? Kobe Bryant for MVP.
6th: Deadspin. D-League dunk champ Brent "Air Georgia" Petway is challenging Superman to a dunk-off.
7th: Pickaxe and Roll. Lots of questions about the Nuggets' quiet trade activity. (And Melo isn't happy.)
8th: The Blowtorch. Things to yell at Larry Hughes, now that he's in Chicago.
9th: Seattle Weekly. A funny send off to Wally Szczerbiak, set to the tune of Elton John's "Candle in the Wind."
10th: VIBE. Amare be blogging: "Shaq brings dominance to the team and a sense of urgency."
Magic Johnson likes his chicken hot and spicy
If you're scoring at home, that's Magic Johnson with the drumstick assist on his own fireball three. Impressive.
And as a bonus, make sure you swing by The Sporting Blog for another 80's Magic moment. It's quite refreshing and will help wash the awesomeness of this all down. Trust me.
Too much Rod Benson: Celebrity game, Shaq and the Sports Guy
It was nice to be in warm weather down in New Orleans. I was sick the whole week before, but I felt like a million bucks when I stepped off that plane with all the "PROBATE" on it. Maybe it was the 70-degree temperature change, or maybe it was all in my head, but I felt more ready to go then ever. I had woken up at 4 a.m., with a terrible sickness that nearly kept me out of the previous game and by 10 a.m. I was living the dream. I was ready like spaghetti. After a very necessary three-hour nap, we headed over to the convention center for the NBA Jam Session. Most of the guys were to compete in skills challenges such as H.O.R.S.E and the 3-point challenge. I was there as a spectator which I enjoyed more than I would have if I had to compete. I got to sit there and watch the entire celebrity game while the other guys had to go get changed and warm up.
The celebrity game was cool except I didn't know half of those guys. Before the game started we walked past all the celebrities and I couldn't recognize anybody. I mean, I did recognize Chris Tucker who, until recently, used to look like he could be my brother (other look-a-likes include Plaxico Burress, Silkk the Shocker, and Chris Taft if Chris Taft looked better). I also recognized Terry Crews and the former athletes (Floyd Mayweather is the only person that can fit into a Power Wheels who terrifies me), but not the actors. I guess I need to watch more Heroes and American Idol if I want to recognize the celebrities on the court next year.
It would actually be better if guys stayed in character for the game, so that instead of wondering if that was that guy from that show I could be like "oh yea there goes HE-MAN on the blue team and The Human Torch on the red team. Personally, I would have liked to see Michaelangelo (ninja turtle obviously) in the paint, Dwight Schrute at the wing and like, McDreamy at the point. That's entertainment value. We all know who they are.
During the celeb game, Shaq walked in and shook hands with some of the D-League guys. I realized that he is just too big time. There was absolutely no spotlight on me whatsoever and I feel like he still stole it from me. Well dressed, outspoken, and literally larger that life, that's Shaq. I realized right then and there are two things that are just untrue. First, Shaq is way too big to ever jockey a horse, but maybe that was part of the joke. Second, a little Vitamin Water bottle is too small anyway. Shaq could drink it by the gallon. �
After the celebrity game was over, Bill Simmons came and sat right next to me. He was talking with the coach of the Idaho Stampede for a while before I completely interrupted them.� I didn't know exactly what to say, so, remembering what he wrote about last years All-Star weekend, I said "Redbull and vodka is a hell of a drink, huh?"
In retrospect, that was actually really lame of me to say, especially considering the fact that I interrupted one of his sentences and he didn't know who I was. Despite the interruption, he turned around and answered, "Yea, it is."
"I read what you wrote about it last year," I told him. "I completely agree."
He took another long look at me. He still had no clue why he should be talking to me.
"Yea," he finally said. "It's like a heart attack in a glass."
"See, that's why I like them, they nearly kill you, but then they get you hyped up," I told him.
I had his attention for sure, but he still didn't know why. He continued to be polite for a while before asking me what my name was.
"Rod."
"Rod... Benson?"
"Yea, Rod Benson."
He knew my name already? Hell yea! After that, the confused look went away. We spent the next 30 minutes just talking about the D-League and the NBA while watching the H.O.R.S.E. and 3-point competitions. Guy is solid, real solid. I gotta be honest, if The Sports Guy knows my name, I must be doing something right. I'm gonna start big timing people, it's the obvious next step. I can see it now ...
"Look, Tyra, I already told you, I don't just give out my number. If you wanna hook up have your people call my people and we'll try to pencil you in. Gotta be honest though, Halle and Jenna have this weekend locked up and you know how wild Halle gets."
Sports Guy left to go judge the D-League dunk contest while I stayed in my seat and filmed the entire thing. I'm not quite sure if I'm allowed to post the video on here, so I won't just yet. The NBA contest video I had put up on Wednesday was quickly booted off YouTube for violating NBA copyrights. I think I'm the only player ever to have that happen.
Coming up on Monday, the ACTUAL All-Star game and my SportsCenter NOT top-ten moment.
Oh yea, Boom Tho t-shirt info can be found at TooMuchRodBenson.com. Hollar.
Rod Benson is a Cal grad who plays for the D-League's Dakota Wizards. He also blogs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on Ball Don't Lie. Read his archive, pay a visit to TooMuchRodBenson.com and always support the Boom Tho movement.
The Internets are alive: Cavs-Bulls-Sonics three-way
Now that the trade dust has settled, here's what they're saying across the blogosphere about Thursday's last-minute Cleveland-Chicago-Seattle blockbuster ...YAYsports!: "Believe it or not, this actually has me contemplating getting League Pass for the rest of the season. It’s not Gasol-to-the-Lakers or anything, but look at the dynamics of how LeBron plays, and you have be a little curious. Drive and dump to Ben … Ben can handle that, and we’re not entirely convinced (although we’re sure we wrote the opposite in the past) that Ben is completely washed up. Remember, he’ll be playing power forward for CLE, which paired with Z, makes them pretty big upfront."
FreeDarko: "Ferry took a crappy situation and made incremental improvements. Wally is not Larry Hughes, though I would encourage you all to remember—this man once stole a pass from teammate Kevin Garnett. And up in Seattle, he's made an art form out of freezing out Durant. Wallace's brokedown-ness is roughly equivalent to Gooden's poor judgment, but he exudes wisdom and can play center."
Empty the Bench: "The Cavs have been starved for a real point guard for years, and now the Larry Hughes-as-point experiment mercifully comes to an end. His 2.4/1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio was eye-gougingly bad. Initial reports had Chris Duhon going to Cleveland, which made a lot of sense since he’s a pure point who plays solid defense, doesn’t shoot a lot and can knock down outside shots. Instead they got Delonte West, a guy with less experience and more upside. And while he isn’t a pure point either, he’s a step in the right direction. Delonte is much more comfortable running an offense, taking care of the ball and being unselfish."
Blog a Bull: "This isn't a type of trade that gives [Bulls GM Jim John] Paxson a 'genius' label (or restores it?) but it is officially an end to the jokes about his phone charger being lost, or his 'internet rumors' paranoia. His number one goal was (and should've been) to dump Ben Wallace, and he did it. Along with his fellow superdelegate Adrian Griffin, as well as Joe Smith. ... Wallace and Smith were 'earning' nearly 55 minutes of time in the frontcourt combined. And while Drew Gooden will take some of those minutes at the 4, Noah now starts (and gets most of his minutes) at center, shifting Tyrus Thomas up the depth chart at the 4. Getting more time for those two (and to a-much-lesser extent, Aaron Gray) was always the most important benefit to dealing Wallace."
"glennPDX," commenter at Supersonicsoul: "Cute. Call it cap space if you want. That's not the game plan, and everyone knows it. Anyone know of a more dramatic example of an owner stripping down a roster of any major sport franchise? Ever? It's stunning, disgusting, and points in two directions: down and out. Adios, boys, see you in OKC (where the living is cheap and so will the basketball team) ..."
And one more ...
Hey Larry Hughes, Please Stop Taking So Many Bad Shots: "I can’t wipe the smile off my face. Did that just happen? Danny Ferry convinced another team to take Larry Hughes?! Ponder that for a moment. ... And now the question: What am I going to do with this site? I’m not sure right now, and I feel like I need a few days to figure it out."
Please Hammer, don't hurt Chris Mullin or Tyrone Hill
I’ve been racking my brain all afternoon trying to decide which players and artist the NBA would pick if they were to remake this public service announcement today. The best I've come up with so far is Hedo Turkoglu for Chris Mullin, Zach Randolph for Tyrone Hill and Soulja Boy for M.C. Hammer.
Proper?
Behind the boxscore, where Oden's fro-hawk happens
Portland 92, Seattle 88 A good effort for the Trail Blazers. They kept the energy up for the entire game even when the shots weren't falling, and Joel Przybilla (four blocks, 11 rebounds in just 31 minutes) was especially impressive. That said, Greg Oden's new haircut was the most interesting part of the game.
Before you rip me for my blatant love of the superficial, look to the right. That's a beautiful piece of work. Admit it.
Seattle's getting better, and it's nice to see a SuperSonics rotation that is relying almost exclusively on the young talent this team is trying to develop, but it was a pair of vets that wouldn't allow Seattle to turn the corner. Chris Wilcox could have fouled LaMarcus Aldridge out by the third quarter, but his head wasn't into it on Thursday, and Wilcox mustered only two points and two rebounds in 14 foul-plagued minutes.
Earl Watson tried too much, and while his 15 points, eight rebounds and nine assists helped; his five turnovers seemed to come at all the wrong times.
So, faced with a bit of a snoozer, I want to bring something up that flies in the face of what too many cable TV analysts keep turning to when they try to tell you how good or how bad specific teams are defensively: the field goal percentage a team allows its opponents.
Doug Collins is a fine, if exacting, analyst, but it was his turn to bring up this overrated stat tonight; talking about how Seattle (a usually crummy defensive team) is better than people think mainly because they don't let their opponents shoot a good percentage.
Yes, it's great that the SuperSonics hold opponents to a low field goal percentage (44.8 percent, eighth-best in the NBA), but what does that matter if the SuperSonics send teams to the line a lot (13th-most in the league), and allow teams to shoot a high percentage from behind the three point line (37.5 percent, third-worst)?
In the second part of Seattle's home-and-home against Portland on Friday, the SuperSonics could hold the Trail Blazers to 41 percent from the floor, and actually lower their overall defensive field goal percentage. But what if Portland hits 12 of 30 (40 percent) from behind the three-point line? The overall defensive FG percentage improves, but the Blazers might be well on their way to a 110-point game!
Kelly Dwyer used an exclamation point! This could be con-ta-gious!
In another recent instance, the Chicago Bulls led the NBA in field goal percentage defense in 2005 and 2006, but they also sent their opponents to the line about 182 times a game, which doesn't affect that percentage a single bit. And, like Seattle, Chicago also turned the ball over a ton, which allowed the opponents more chances to not shoot well from the floor, but to ultimately put up more points. So while they were great defensively, leading the NBA (or, in Seattle's case, doing surprisingly well) in this particular stat isn't always telling.
You wouldn't call the player with the best individual field goal percentage (this year, Andris Biedrins) the best scorer in the NBA, nor would you assume him to be among the best just off that stat alone. So why do national analysts constantly do the same with defensive field goal percentage? It makes no sense.
Points allowed, people, normalized for pace. There's your answer.
Seattle IS improving defensively, they had a nice game tonight (about 99 points allowed per 100 possessions, ten points less than they usually give up), but this team is still 20th in defensive efficiency.
(Did you see that gorgeous floater in the lane that Durant hit with about three minutes to go? Off the wrong foot? A close second to Oden's haircut.)
Unlike last season (or, worse, the 2001-02 run that saw a boring and lottery-bound Knick team televised twice a month), TNT's gotten pretty lucky with the lineups this year. But you're not going to win all of them, especially when you're in the business of picking late-February's entertainment the previous July, and tonight was an example of such.
Shaq was supposed to be backing down Yao in this contest, while Greg Oden was supposed to be swatting Kevin Durant's floaters into the 13th row during the second pairing.
Good thing the trade deadline deals kept the Turner crew buzzing. Otherwise ... igh. That's right, "igh."
The Rockets got off to a hot start while the Heat adamantly refused to move their feet or talk in transition. Houston then spent the bulk of final three quarters impatiently waiting for the clock to end and the team's tenth-straight win to win itself. Miami wasn't good enough to do much about it, Pat Riley's crew got the deficit down to nine points a few times, but the Rockets were clearly better.
Rookie Carl Landry (19 points, five rebounds, zero turnovers in almost 25 minutes) had another solid game off the bench for Houston. Considering that he played his college ball about 10 minutes away from where I'm typing this, and that I hadn't even heard of this guy's name until he was drafted last June, I might want to start paying attention to this whole En Cee Ay-Ay-thing.
Nah.
Gregg Popovich probably isn't happy, but there are going to be games like this, and you can't expect Minnesota's record alone to ease the Spurs into a 25-point victory.
The Timberwolves have talent, lots of it, but youth and inconsistency usually leaves Minnesota coach Randy Wittman (I was halfway into typing Flip Saunders' last name out of muscle memory, but caught myself ...) with just one of his cadre of talented youngsters playing well alongside Al Jefferson.
Wittman's own rotation choices also hamstring his team at times, but that's a story for another, slower, day.
Tonight, however, saw most of the young Wolves were hitting shots. Minnesota's trio of point guard-sized wannabe shooting guards (Rashad McCants, Randy Foye, and Sebastian Telfair) each hit half their looks from the floor, while Jefferson (28 points) was his usual self.
The Wolves defense was pretty lousy. It wasn't the main reason why Manu the Monster went off for 44 points, but both the Timberwolves perimeter and interior defenders consistently tended to forget that Manu is, not sure if you've heard, left-handed. Even Minnesota center Theo Ratliff, who has been chasing after Manu for almost six years now, was still preparing for Ginobili to drive and finish right in the lane. Ridiculous.
Manu's a beast, though. Forty-four points on 18 shots. I should have saved the "ridiculous" line for this paragraph. So it goes.
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