News and Notes From the Day
- Another day and another come-from-behind-win for the Utah Jazz. This is become downright ridiculous! This is the fifth time in a row that the Jazz have fought through a double-digit deficit in the second half to win the game. It’s not like they’re beating scrubs either, here are their victims over the five game streak: Clippers, Heat, Magic, Atlanta and Charlotte. The last four victories have been on the road, which makes this feat even more impressive.
- The Minnesota Timberwolves have stated that they firmly believe that Ricky Rubio will in fact begin his NBA career in Minnesota and not some other location, including the New York Knicks. Let’s consider the source here – David Kahn. This is the same guy that compared Darko Milicic’s career to the career of Chris Webber. Simply put – Kahn is a complete moron. If Kahn had any sense, he would trade Rubio now and get some value for him while some teams still believe he is a quality point guard.
- Coach Vinny Del Negro confirmed that the Clippers will rest Baron Davis until Thanksgiving, in hopes that the rest will allow his knee to heal. I don’t know about you, but I’m not buying the whole “give the knee some rest” story. They are resting Davis to see how well Bledsoe plays so they can determine if they can get rid of B Diddy. Come February, you will not see Baron Davis in a Clippers jersey. I am not sure where you will see him, but it will not be in Los Angeles.
- You knew it would happen and it did. After reports surfaced that DeMarcus Cousins is butting heads with the Sacramento Kings’ coaching staff (as discussed in yesterdays version of The Hoop Scoop), teams around the Association have inquired about his availability. Ask all you want, but Cousins is not getting traded.
- The Heat have made their first lineup switch and are now going with Big Z, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, at the starting 5 spot. Looks like that whole Joel Anthony experiment was a complete and utter failure. The Heat may want to start looking at Erick Dampier a little more seriously.
Top 5 of the Night
- Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat: 31 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot. D Wade has been the high scorer for the Heat five out of their last six games. Out of the Heat’s big three, Wade’s scoring production is the one that has dropped the least.
- Danny Granger, Indiana Pacers: 34 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal. Granger was an impressive 5 for 8 from long distance in a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
- Gilbert Arenas, Washington Wizards: 30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. The Hibachi strikes again! Arenas sank seven 3-pointers. The Wizards management has to be happy about this as it only raises his trade value.
- Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics: 28 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot. Pierce was perfect from the charity stripe tonight as he led the Celtics to an overtime victory over the Grizzlies.
- Nazr Mohammed, Charlotte Bobcats: 22 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocked shots. The Jazz made Mohammed look like an All-Star tonight – you should not expect this every night from him. There is a reason he is still available in your fantasy league. This was a total fluke.
Fantasy Stud of the Night
Finally a night with no triple-doubles, which actually makes this a bit more difficult. It came down to two Bucks tonight: Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut. While Bogut’s 17 rebounds and 7 blocked shots were impressive, Jennings did a little bit of everything tonight so he gets the distinguished honor. Here’s his line:
- 19 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocked shots, 2 3-pointers and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
With season averages of 15 points, 5 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game, Jennings is turning into a very solid fantasy option.
Dunk of the Night
This one probably won’t blow you away, but Dwight Howard makes Brook Lopez look like a little boy with this one.
This is just one instance where Dwight had his way with Lopez tonight. Dwight backed Lopez down with little effort to gain absolutely absurd positioning, caught the rock and threw it down so hard it made you think the ball had insulted his mother.
Deadbeat of the Day
Evan Turner got the starting nod again tonight against the San Antonio Spurs, even though Andre Iguodala is back from his injury. Turner logged 27 minutes tonight and wound up with 4 rebounds…that’s it, just 4 rebounds. 0 points, 0 assists, 0 steals and 0 blocked shots. It makes you wonder what Doug Collins was thinking by leaving this kid in the game. Congrats to the Wizards for making the right decision and selecting Wall. If Portland somehow had the first pick in last years draft, you know they would have taken Evan Turner.
Hilarious Pic of the Day
Something is definitely foul here...
From Ervin Johnson’s reaction, it’s looking like Shaq failed to throw on some deodorant prior to the game. And let’s be honest, those are some gigantic arm pits Shaq has, so if he did fail to put on some deodorant, there’s a good chance that he was a little raw.
ATI