The Phoenix Suns seem ready to implode. This is a team which could very well miss the playoffs this year. I expect Stoudemire to be traded.
The Dallas Mavericks look like a team ready to make some noise in the Western Conference. Right now, the Mavs are beating the Magic and they dominated the Heat on Saturday. Once you get past the Lakers, teams 2-8 are still wide open. The Spurs are an older team and I can see them falling off as the season wears on.
The Lakers did not need Andrew Bynum’s injury. Can another team in the West get hot and take over 1st?
CP3 gets hurt in the Portland game and the Hornets blow a 20 point lead. If Paul’s groin puts him on the shelf for a while, the Hornets are in BIG trouble.
An outstanding game on NBA TV tonight: Mavs vs Blazers. Both teams are hot. I’m going to predict a Dallas win as they’ve been hot and are playing at home.
The Spurs aren’t THAT old…not a young team by any stretch but the big three are 32 (Duncan), 31 (Ginobli), and 26 (Parker). Sure, they have some older players like Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Finley, but other then Finley, they don’t play the minutes that the big three do. Also, Pop is gonna rest Finley, Duncan, Ginobli, and Parker three times over the next twelve games (or something like that) so they’ll be plenty rested come the playoffs. Last night, the Spurs played the Nuggets close sitting all four of them!
I think the Lake show will be okay, but if any team can make a run, it’s the Spurs who are playing .756 ball after going 2 and 5 to start the season.
Also, it’s an odd numbered year so you KNOW the Spurs are going to win (then again, I’m a lifelong Spurs fan so obviously I’m a little biased;)).
I can’t wait to hear what Phoenix sports radio is saying about the Suns’ loss last night to the Warriors. This Suns team is going to be a powder keg and I’m sure Amare will be whining up a storm. Do the Suns pack it in for this year and trade Amare and Shaq?
Nice win by Dallas last night. Now they get to fly to Utah and play a back to back game.
Who was better against the Knicks at MSG? Kobe with his 61 or Lebron with his 52 and his trib-doub? I say Lebron, but then I think he is the better player. I get to to see the Knicks plays when they come to the Rose Garden on Sunday; maybe Roy can drop 50 points on them, too.
Elton Brand is out for the season. He’s a great player when healthy, but he’s made of glass.
LeBron was better by a fairly significant amount. 61 points is nice, but the zero rebounds really stands out at me. You have to be actively attempting not to rebound to not get a single one when you play that many minutes in a NBA game.
The Lakers beat the Celtics tonight in a good game that was marred a bit by some slightly-worse-than-usual officiating, going both ways. The game changer was KG getting his sixth going for a free ball after Gasol whacked him on the wrist a few times to free said ball. The refs then spent the next two minutes giving the C’s makeup calls on borderline fouls by the Lakers (never a good thing). Then to top it off, Ray Allen was fouled by Fisher on the final play of the game - not blatantly but a definite hand in the midsection, slowing him down so he couldn’t get free for the final shot; a classic example of “do you ref the last play of the game the same way you’d ref the first”?
As I though, the Mavs were beaten badly by Utah last night. Bad scheduling with back to back games in Dallas and then in Utah.
The Suns have a home game tonight against Golden State. If this turns out to be another bad loss for Phoenix, those trade rumors are going to be deafening. I highly doubt Terry Porter will be fired, but this team isn’t playing well.
Phoenix got off to a hot start tonight against Golden State, but the Warriors came back to make it a very close game in the 3rd quarter. Right now, Suns are up 111-103 with 1:17 left and Shaq just fouled out.
The Suns are a far more talented team than the Warriors. They don’t need to be blow out in the first game this week and then sweat a win at home.
After this, the Suns have 3 East Coast games: Detroit, Philly, and Cleveland. They will probably lose to Detroit and Cleveland and beat Philly.
I went to the New York @ Portland game on Sunday afternoon. The Blazers blew a 17 point 3rd quarter lead. New York then built a 15 point 4th quarter lead. Then Brandon Roy made a game winning lay up at the buzzer. I don’t know what to think about the Blazers right now. They got hammered by OKC and should have lost to NYC after blowing that lead.
A very nice comeback win (after the typical Bulls maddening one-quarter collapse) against the hated Pistons, 107-102. Glad to see Red Kerr at least up and about, though he really does not look or sound well at all–understandably, given that he’s stricken with prostate cancer. Also nice to see MJ and Pip again at the U.C.
Why the Pistons traded Chauncey Billups I’ll never know, but I’m really glad they did. Who knew Matt Millen was branching out into the NBA?
Just prior to All Star Weekend and the trade deadline, Shawn Marion gets swapped for Jermaine O’Neal. I really like Shawn Marion’s game, but if he’s getting shipped this much, he must be bad in the locker room. Now that Jermaine is 30, he seems to be getting hurt a lot. I think Toronto got the better end of the deal.
The Suns have fired Terry Porter. Not a shock as the rumors have been rampant all weekend. Still no word on a possible Stoudemire deal. I’m not really sure if the Suns are pulling the plug on this season or not. They probably can make the playoffs as there are so many awful teams in the Western conference. But, I see them getting swept in the first round if the do make it in as an 8th seed. I’d move both Shaq and Stoudemire. Shaq’s value is as high right now as it has ever been.
I bet Steve Kerr is trying to sucker his “old buddy” Michael Jordan into taking Amare in return for an assload of draft packs, spread out over the next five years. I’d give Jordan this years pick and Stoudemire in return for Emeka Okafur and 1st round picks in '10, '11 and '12. Jordan’ll go for it because it increases his chances of drafting Tyler Hansbrough. This trade would make Red Auerbach’s robbery of the Warriors (in essence- Robert Parish and Kevin McHale for Joe Barry Carroll) seem like a comparatively fair deal.
Stoudemire is a gifted athlete, no question. But everything he does appears to me to be based strictly on athleticism. If he combined his physical gifts with a determination to actually learn the finer points of rebounding and defense, he could be the next Moses Malone. As it is, the rest of the NBA’s young guard is leaving him in the damned dust. And he’s a malcontent, to boot. Get ready, Bobcats fans, here comes your man!