This is a hurried post, so I'll keep it short and sweet.
I'm currently waiting in line to board a plane for New Orleans.
No joke. I'm standing in line right this second. Luckily the person ahead of me has a really bad hunch, so I just propped my laptop right up on his back. He's being extremely cooperative. I'm going to buy him a bagel.
Anyway, yeah, I'm on my way to cover this year's All-Star Weekend. I have no idea what I actually mean by "cover," but man, this site is going to be a blast. Kobe's injured pinky swear!
I'll be in travel for most of today -- first stop: Charlotte's airport! -- but as soon as I hit that Big Easy tarmac the pictures and posts should start coming.
I'm going to tackle the Jam Session tomorrow, play in some media pick-up game on Saturday -- "Throw me the oop, Abbott!" -- ask as many random questions as I possibly can ... OK, wow, I really got to go! This little old man is getting restless.
See you in N'awlins!
Behind the boxscore, where Manu is a monster
San Antonio 112, Cleveland 105
With his team struggling to score (18 points after just one quarter) and the Cavs feasting off of San Antonio's long misses, Manu Ginobili absolutely took things over in the second quarter of this one.
Scoring 13 in the quarter, Manu gave the Spurs a fighting chance (fightin', I say, because the kid's got moxie) heading into the second half, and his dominant touch allowed the Spurs to score 94 points in the final three frames and pull out the win.
Ginobili was incredible, snaking his way through double-teams, giving the ball up early only to get it back in time to score, directing traffic and nailing jumper after tough jumper. Forty-six points on only 20 shots, eight assists, five rebounds, three steals and just ONE turnover in 40 minutes of play for Ginobili on Wednesday.
(But, by all means, enjoy Brandon Roy on Sunday night.)
LeBron James wasn't nearly as good, but did offer an outstanding 39 points, nine assists, six boards and three turnovers. I'm not going to drag out the usual, "he didn't have much help," bit because there wasn't much the Cavs could do with Ginobili last night. LBJ was awesome, the Cavs played a great game, but they didn't have a chance with Manu acting as he did.
Against single-coverage, he'd score. When Cleveland trapped him and forced Manu to give up the ball as he crossed half court, he'd dart his way around a half-court set, watch as the Spurs made a few passes, duck into the open spots, take the pass and score. Brilliant basketball from a monster in his prime.
About what you'd expect. New Jersey started off slowly without Antoine Wright leading the show, Vince Carter was booed every time he touched the ball (which is always nice, cities outside of Toronto should pick this custom up), and the Nets never had a chance.
Toronto did relent a bit in the fourth quarter; the Raptor bench didn't have its best game going, turning this into a semi-respectable blowout.
Knick center Eddy Curry had two points, two turnovers and no rebounds in nine minutes of "action."
New York didn't lose by 45, and you get the feeling that Curry's absence (and not Kevin Garnett's) may have been the biggest reason why.
New Orleans 111, Milwaukee 107
The Hornets defense is slipping, and I attribute that solely to the end of a road trip, and the promise of an All-Star break. As it was with a lot of the games we saw this week, there was little of any lasting impact to take from this one.
The 76ers just toyed with their Memphis counterparts, Andre Iguodala notched 29 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, and it doesn't appear as if the Grizzlies are having much fun. Hakim Warrick (23 and eight rebounds) went his third game in a row without registering an assist, and this selfish streak just has to end.
On a serious note, there is a definite communication issue with rookie Juan Carlos Navarro and the rest of his Memphis teammates; especially defensively.
We'd heard that Juan had issues with English early in the year, but especially on screen/roll defense, Navarro is rarely where his teammates expect him to be. The same goes for transition pick-ups, covering shooters after the other team grabs an offensive rebound, and on the offensive side of things at times.
Los Angeles Lakers 117, Minnesota 92
After playing and losing in New Jersey the night before, the Timberwolves were dragging in this one: barely able to keep up defensively (giving up 99 points in the first three quarters) and falling short on offense.
The Lakers are a friggin' offensive juggernaut at this point. Also, in five weeks, they'll get another 7-footer with skills, free of charge. Scary.
Charlotte 100, Atlanta 98 (OT)
This is where the Bobcats are: the team needed a furious fourth quarter rally, at home, behind a career night from Emeka Okafor (20 points, 21 rebounds, five blocks) just to force overtime against a Hawks team that was more than ready for the All-Star break.
All-Star snub candidate Josh Smith was an absolute non-factor with six fouls and five turnovers in 15 minutes, Marvin Williams missed 12 of 15 shots, and All-Star Joe Johnson had a completely blah-game with 19 points, four boards and four assists in nearly 48 minutes of action.
(Seriously, All-Stars should be able to contribute quite a bit more in that sort of minute allotment. Why can't voters or coaches ever seem to notice how many minutes Johnson plays?)
And yet, the Hawks were up double-digits in the final quarter. Credit the Bobcats for working toward a tie and eventual win, but this is a Charlotte team that really, really struggles to score.
I was blacked out of this one. Usually I'd whine and moan, but on a night with 13 other contests ... yay.
Tremendous game for Carlos Boozer in this one, he found seams in the Seattle "defense" all night, registering 10 assists, 22 points, 11 rebounds, and five steals.
The Jazz have won 18 of the team's last 21 contests, all without the luxury of trading for someone on the 2006 All-Star team.
It was obvious back in December that the Trail Blazers weren't as good as their record would indicate, and obvious during this week that Dallas (even with injuries) wasn't as bad a team as the recent record would indicate ... but this seems like an overreaction, no? Regression to the mean is one thing, but this was a little nutty. Portland shouldn't be getting blown out like this.
Brandon Roy (25, six rebounds, six assists, one turnover) needs to get in LaMarcus Aldridge's head, tout bloody suite: "this" ("this" = six points on 10 shots, five rebounds in almost 34 minutes) is not acceptable.
Devean George missed all 11 of his shots. Strange, that.
I'll fully cop to not seeing anything more than highlights of this one, with a dozen other games on last night I had to Tivo some other contests for early-morning viewing, while taping the late showing of this one to look at later on. Apparently, as far as I can tell, the Phoenix Suns were hurting in a way that Shaquille O'Neal can't possibly help to heal. Unless, of course, he sits on Monta Ellis or something.
Ellis played all 48 minutes, registering 37 points, nine rebounds, five assists and only one turnover. That last number might be the most impressive, until I watch the game and realize that the drummer from the Barbarians could probably play 48 minutes against the Phoenix defense and only register a single cough-up.
Last night we saw "tired," and we saw "looking forward to the All-Star break."
Denver, in spite of a rash of noted late-night types who have reason to look forward to the break, fell in the "tired" camp last night. It wasn't the most grueling of road trips, but they were playing the last of a three-game trek that saw them take wins in Cleveland and Miami. On Wednesday night, the Nugs didn't appear to have a chance, at any point.
Dwight Howard was his old self (lots of points, rebounds, and turnovers: 23, 24 and five); but it was the perimeter play of Brian Cook (18 points on nine shots), Hedo Turkoglu (18 points in only 24 minutes), and Rashard Lewis (25 points on only 14 shots) that won the game for Orlando. That, and the sweet, sweet opium they put in Denver's Gatorade before the game.
I don't know what was more frustrating, Sacramento's slow and uninspired start (down 35-20 after one), Houston's inept finish (just 10 points in the fourth quarter), or the fact that these were about the only parts of the game I got to see.
These are two teams that are starting completely over next Tuesday.
Washington 91, Los Angeles Clippers 89
The Wizards had an incredibly easy go of it when they got the ball into Antawn Jamison (29 points, including the game-winning tip-in) or Andray Blatche inside, but the team meandered too often, showing fatigue and making poor decisions defensively.
On the Clipper side, rookie Al Thonton (the guy who could barely make a third of his shots in the first month of the season) nailed jumper after jumper on his way toward 24 points. The 24 year-old is averaging 18.6 points over his last nine games.
Washington was always in control, however, which was impressive for a team finishing a tough road trip; even against a crummy Clipper outfit.
Making sense of Devean George
So let's get this straight:
On Wednesday, a player (Jerry Stackhouse)�said he was about to be traded and�had already decided to re-sign in 30 days with the team that was trading him (Dallas) because the team that was trading for him (New Jersey) only wanted to cut him. He welcomed such a deal because, well, he'd still get paid, he wouldn't have to move and he was excited that the point guard he was being traded for (Jason Kidd) would be a better fit for his original (and soon-to-be future) team (Dallas) than the guy who's currently lockering a couple doors down from him (Devin Harris).
Then while waiting for said trade to be completed, the player (Stackhouse) learned the deal had been blocked by another teammate (Devean George), who only recently, had requested a trade, but now didn't want to be dealt because it possibly would cost him money on the free-agent market. Even though this same player (George) just burped up what little market value he had by going 0 for 11 while some of his own fans criticized him for being "selfish."
Don't you just love the NBA?
Fortunately for us, this drama gets to play out at least one more day. No one involved knows exactly how it will end, but here's betting Kidd eventually ends up in Dallas.
Somehow.
George's agent, in fact, said Wednesday night there's still a chance his client will OK the trade.
"We didn't intend for this to be a line in the sand," Mark Bartelstein said by phone. "They (the Mavericks) brought this to us just before the game and I didn't think there was enough time to discuss it."
George is able to veto the deal because he's on a one-year contract and would lose his "Early Bird" rights – which allow teams to go over the salary cap to sign him – if he's traded.
"That's a big thing for him as a free agent," Bartelstein said. "We just want to sit down and make sure we're making the right decision for him."
One team official, however, said George is seeking a guarantee in playing time from the Nets. Considering he just went 0 for 11, who can blame him?
After all, not everyone is as lucky as Jerry Stackhouse.
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