Three NBA games last night proved that although a team is called “elite” doesn’t mean they can’t taste defeat. There were three upsets last night. The Nets defeated the Bulls 103-101, the Bobcats defeated the Nuggets 107-95, and the Grizzlies defeated the Cavaliers 111-109. Two games came down to a shot, and the other had a great passing game.
The Nets were victorious over the Bulls in a hard fought effort. This game spelt positive news for the Nets, and the coaching change has gotten 2 wins. The Bulls head coach, Vinny DelNegro, doesn’t seem to have a very long amount of time left in Chicago before the wind carries him away with the echo of “YOU’RE FIRED!” It’s pathetic for a team that garnered great expectations (terrible novel by Charles Dickens) after putting on the most exciting series this decade saw in the playoffs against Boston. Having John Salmons take a three point shot, when the Bulls were only down by one was STUPID, and not having Rose drive in for a layup and possible trip to the free throw line is pathetic coaching.
The Bobcats showcased a fantastic passing game in order to get past the Nuggets. Although, it seems like the Bobcats did something nobody saw coming. The fact is Denver came from Philly the night before after playing catch-up against the 76ers in the 4th quarter. This was a back to back game, and many NBA teams are not great at these. The Bobcats do have some highlights in the fact that Gerald Wallace leads the league in rebounds at 12.4 per game, but expect that to drop off. Chandler & Diaw have been on and off for games, and last night they were not really a big factor. Stephen Jackson, has supplied scoring for the Bobcats, which is nice but won’t do much but fill the box score up a little more. If you’re a Cats fan, then take the victory for what it’s worth, which is nothing but the Nuggets being tired.
The biggest upset was the Memphis Grizzlies who have played fantastic since the “ANSWER” Allen Iverson departed, gaining the victory over a Cleveland Cavaliers who had a LeBron James high 43 points this season. Jamaal Tinsley has been surprising since he joined Memphis, and the team has won their last 8 out of 12 games, and they are on a 3 game win streak. Mark Gasol has been an underrated center for the team, and although his numbers didn’t show it last night, he did the little things like take up space in the paint so LeBron had to alter his shot. Mike Conley was a true point guard playing at a star level last night. Having two credible wingmen in Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo helped get the win. Cavs got a little 1 on 5 happy, like usual in the fourth quarter, and it was not a good game plan. Memphis did have LeBron dancing his way out of the arena with a loss.
NBA villain, is this possible? Absolutely, the NBA is not DC Comics or Marvel, but the league needs a villain that makes everyone watch in order to cheer for him to lose. It sounds weird, but when thinking about it, it's true. The Bad Boys of Detroit in the 1990’s were known as villains because if a player like Jordan tried to drive in for a lay-up, then they would take it upon themselves to foul as hard as possible without receiving a flagrant, and injury came with the territory. It’s hard to believe, but Jordan himself was a villain, because he had people that loved him, but also a lot wanted to see him lose. Other examples include Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Allen Iverson, Ron Artest, Rasheed Wallace. When looking at the NBA now, there seems to be too many likeable individuals. Artest has toned his rough attitude down for L.A., Kobe has matured (wow what a loser), Shaq is just plain old (his talk is not backed up anymore), Iverson is just about at his last drop of gas, and Rasheed has also aged and toned down for the Celtics.
Lebron James is notorious for not shaking the Magic’s hand after he and the Caviliers got spanked in the Eastern Conference Finals. He says he will be the first billionaire basketball player, he wants all the attention about his free agency, but then says he doesn’t want to speak of it, and finally he danced during a game against the Bulls because Cleveland was handing them an embarrassing loss. LeBron needs to be the NBA villain and he is fitting into that mold that has been put into storage for a long time now. I welcome this fact because I love to hate players (Kobe move over LeBron is now the top villain).
Here It Is & Remember Dwight Howard is 24 and he invited the L.A. Clippers to his Block Party (Happy Birthday Dwight)!
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3 comments:
Kuria,first I must say, "I Told You So!" It is great that you are into the Magic now, and hey they can always use another fan. Your boy JJ had one three in the game, but at least he made it. J-Will has been a great pick-up for the Magic especially since the Magic lost Jameer. CPedBuck, did you see that Kobe shot on Wade!
Ummm whatevs dools. And he only had one 3-pointer bc he was in for like 2 mins! It's kinda ridic how little they have been playing him. But seriously J-Will is almost beating JJ for being number 1 to me. He's sooo good, it's easy to love him! I hope he keeps getting this much playing time, bc I hate AJ. Can't wait for the Jazz game tonight! Hopefully JJ will get some more playing time. BTW Pbizzle and I are going to another game in January. When they play against the Indy Pacers! I'm supa excited!!!
-Khud
No i didn't see the shot by Kobe, and i'm kind of glad because it was over D-Wade and i would've been mad. i gotta give kobe his props though. i liked your post about the new villain in Lebron James because i love/hate him (now leaning more towards hate) but i gotta give him his props too cuz he can play. and K-Hud, i'm so excited!
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