Category: NBA (Page 258 of 595)

Line of the Night (12/16): Michael Redd

Normally, I pick a player from a winning team, but tonight I’m going to give the Line of the Night to Michael Redd because the Bucks got royally hosed against the Lakers. There were a series of bad calls down the stretch and in overtime, but the killer was a travel and charge by Kobe that was somehow turned into a three point play. Lakers win, 107-106, in OT. Ridiculous. You’d think the game was in L.A. the way the officiating crew was cowtowing to the Lakers.

Anyway, Redd has been coming off the bench the last few games as he tries to come back from his ACL surgery, and tonight he finally looked like himself. He posted 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and hit some big shots in the second half to bring the Bucks back from an eight-point deficit. In a game where Brandon Jennings had an off night, Redd stepped up. If he can get back to being an efficient scorer, the Bucks will have a pretty potent backcourt.

Line of the Night (12/15): Kobe Bryant

The Lakers started their longest road trip of the season in Chicago last night (5 games, which isn’t very long) and Kobe was in shoot-first mode for the entire game. He posted 42 points (on 15-26 shooting), three assists, two rebounds, three steals and EIGHT turnovers.

Is the Ron Artest move working out? Against the Bulls he went 3-14 from the field for nine points, four assists and five rebounds. He is shooting just under 43% for the season, which is right around his career average. I expected his accuracy to rise this season as he really doesn’t have to be much of a scorer and should be exercising better shot selection. So much for that.

What Tim Donaghy did wrong, in his own words

Ball Don’t Lie published its interview with disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy. Here’s what he admits to doing wrong…

Well, I don’t want to say there were certain officials I stayed away from — rather, that there were specific officials that I went after. And it was a situation where I looked for the games that they were on, more or less … I looked to see where certain officials refereed, whether it was a home or away game, what happened the last time they worked a particular team, and who else they were with. And I was able to come to a conclusion of what I felt the betting line should be, and I would look at the newspaper and if it was a difference of four or five points, I would tell people to bet the game.

But did Donaghy manipulate any games to benefit himself or others?

Continue reading »

Amare Stoudemire staying in Phoenix?

When asked whether or not he’ll make a move prior to the February trade deadline, Suns GM Steve Kerr said the following (via FanHouse)…

“I don’t think we’re going to do anything,” he said. “I’m pretty happy with this group.”

Kerr was asked if that means Stoudemire, who can opt out of his contract next summer and become a free agent, is safe from being moved.

“I’d be pretty surprised if we did anything,” Kerr said. “We’re playing well. You always want to get better and you never say never (regarding a move). But we’re playing well.”

For his part, Stoudemire says that he’s not sure that he’s going to opt out at the end of the season.

“I’m right in the middle,’ he said. “There’s no particular way I’m leaning.”

“It’s up to them to approach me about whatever situation they think, whatever they’re thinking,” Stoudemire said. “Until then, I’m just going to keep playing and keep trying to win. The ball is pretty much in their court. Whenever they’re ready to discuss anything, just let me know. If not, I’m just going to keep playing.”

What a difference winning makes. The Suns are 16-8, an impressive mark considering Phoenix has only played eight home games thus far. They’re getting good play from Stoudemire (19-8, 56% shooting), Steve Nash (18-3-11, 53%) and Jason Richardson (16-5-2, career-high 48% shooting). Grant Hill (12-6-2) and Channing Frye (12-6) round out a pretty balanced starting five.

If the Suns can keep winning, Kerr is unlikely to make any moves. I’ve been hard on him over the last couple of seasons (mainly for trading Shawn Marion and letting Mike D’Antoni slip away), but the proof is in the pudding. He realized that the Shaq trade got the Suns away from what they do best — push the ball. The Suns are running again (4th in the NBA in pace) and that style suits their personnel.

If Amare is still on the roster after the trade deadline, then it’s up to the Suns to decide whether or not they want to commit to him long term. He’s still likely to opt-out, especially if he stays healthy and continues to play well. There are too many teams with salary cap space to let an opportunity for a long-term contract pass him by.


Photo from fOTOGLIF

Five players who could be on the move



Marc Stein lists five “big” names who could be on the move as the NBA trade season begins in earnest. Those names are: Andre Miller, Nate Robinson, Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat and Ramon Sessions. Here’s part of Stein’s writeup on Miller:

Miller might actually find it easier to operate in Portland’s offense with Oden off the floor and less of an emphasis on throwing the ball inside. Harsh as that sounds, given Oden’s unquestioned likability and hideous luck, Miller and Roy appeared to be the main sufferers from the lack of offensive flow that has plagued Portland this season as Oden’s role expanded. If the Blazers open things up a bit more with Oden sidelined, as Roy envisions, that could really help Miller.

Yet the reality remains that Miller and Roy are an iffy tag team because both need to see so much of the ball to be effective, which explains why Miller has started only nine games. There’s this, too: While NBA front-office sources say there is considerable outside interest in young (and mostly forgotten) Portland guard Jerryd Bayless, Miller’s more substantial salary — $6.7 million to Bayless’ $2.1 million — would probably bring a bigger talent payoff in a trade.

“They need a Mo Williams-type to play with Brandon Roy,” said one rival team executive in the West. “They need a shooter to play off him.”

Stein suggests that both Miller and Sessions were signed so that the Blazers and T-Wolves would have tradeable assets that they can “flip” at some point during the season. Sessions supposedly had an opportunity to play for the Knicks on a one-year deal and probably should have done just that. Chris Duhon is struggling, so it’s likely that Sessions would be the starter by now, and with his ability, he could post some nice numbers in Mike D’Antoni’s system. The Knicks aren’t going to trade for Sessions now because his contract would eat into their projected cap space next summer.

« Older posts Newer posts »