November 11, 2008 8:10 am  |  42 Comments

Line Of The Night — Champion Energy

Never underestimate the importance of a good entry pass.

by Shannon Booher

Line Of The Night:

Kevin Garnett — 21 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 1 block

This is all about what you cannot see in the line. Peezy went for 36, but he would have been sitting on the bench, getting blown out by the Raptors, if it was not for K.G. Back at home after an intense Not to taunt.win in Detroit, the Ceatles were about as lively as John Lennon and George Harrison during the first half. The only exception was the Kid, who had his motor running, as usual. When the rest of his guys still weren’t really into it in the second half, he ratcheted up to that other level, getting everybody going. He even started pressing Jose Calderon full court, reaching and pointing and clapping and yapping the whole time. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Really, can’t they transform his blood into some kind of laptop battery? Car fuel? A general high efficiency energy source? Obama has the solution to the country’s economic, gas, and environmental problems right under his nose.

Worst Of The Night:

Hey Phoenix, if you are going to pound the ball into Amare and Shaq, maybe you guys should practice the entry pass? We counted at least six failed entry passes in last night’s game against the Grizz. Gross. Matt Barnes alone screwed up three in a row, at one point! Overall the Suns are in textbook Bizarro world right now… it’s an odd scene out there in Arizona.

Near Beast Of The Night:

Dwight Howard — 29 points, 19 boards, 1 steal, 1 block

Ok, Greg. You’ve officially dodged the murder’s row of centers you were set to face to open the season, and your team, the Blazers, even came out of it with a respectable 4-3 record. Time to come back an enjoy your overwhelming physical advantage.

Rookie Of The Night:

O.J. Mayo — 33 points, 5 assists, 3 boards, 3 steals

Wow. Coming out of college, we were not exactly sure what Mr. Mayo was going to give us in the NBA. After two consecutive 30+ games, now we know (well, maybe we don’t… Mayo-miteafter all, these performances came against the no D Warriors and the “what the hell are we doing out here, coach?” Suns). Dude is a natural offensive (more offensive than Ralph Nader, more offensive than Andrew Dice Clay, more offensive than Mike Martz, more offensive than Michael Vick at the Westminster Kennel Club, more offensive than an Eminem concert in the Vatican, more offensive than our earlier Beatles comment) talent, and not afraid to have the ball in his hands. In fact, if every player in uniform for both the Grizz and the Suns had ganged up on him and physically tried to wrestle the ball away from him last night in the forth quarter, it might have been mission impossible. And we’re including Shaq in that. He literally had the ball in his hands over 90 percent of the time for the Grizz in the fourth. He balled out for sure, but we were definitely having visions of early-post-Shaq-liberated Kobe. Mayo could have capped this performance off with a big time clutch shot, but failed on a long, long gun to tie with a few seconds left.

Overall, Memphis has a whole lot of talent, but almost no clue how to play with each other.  With under two minutes to go, they failed to inbound the ball TWICE IN A ROW! Come on, guys.

Hakim Warrick to Robin Lopez: get some, have some, want some! EAT YOUR BREAKFAST!!!!… Amare removes the goggles. Too bad, we kind of liked them… Leandro Barbosa finally suited up last night, dropping 27 points, but still only played 22 minutes… It hurts to see what has become of the Vinsanity of it all. He looked hapless last night in clutch (two turnovers in three possessions), as DWade showed him how it is properly done… How much extra time do K.G., The Truth and Ray Allen have on their hands now that every single media outlet in the universe no longer has to do an obligatory “Big 3″ feature? More or less than Melo has, now that the braids are gone?… The obligatory Hawks reference:  Solomon Jones… Gold medalist Nastia Liukin court side, in Pacers jersey, at Pacers game, but actually a Mavericks fan… FREE ALICIA SACRAMONE!…

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This story is filed under: Blogs, Line of the Night, NBA

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  • Ryne Nelson Posted: Nov.11 at 8:17 am
    The Grizz were wronged at the end of the game last night. Amare tripped Mayo (no call, Suns out of bounds) and Boris Diaw clearly knocked out of bounds on the next possession (Suns ball once again).

  • WhaHuh Posted: Nov.11 at 8:29 am
    I think it was Ross Amare tripped but nice home cooking none the less. Some grizz fans have been calling for Oj at PG but i think he is a 2 guard with PG skills a la Iverson/Rip/Barbosa/Terry/Roy etc. The only play he ran was a high pick and roll

  • Bryan Posted: Nov.11 at 8:33 am
    OJ looks really good right now.

  • Gerard Himself Posted: Nov.11 at 8:37 am
    To be honest: I haven’t seen a Grizzlies game so far, but the stats Mayo is putting up in these last four games are impressive. How long can he keep this up? He’s actually also getting some steals along the way.

  • Kid Presto Posted: Nov.11 at 8:44 am
    O.J. was trippin last night. and in a good way. It had to be a blessing in disguise as right before the game started, I added OJ onto my team for my fantasy team. I watched the game last night and dude was looking like a young kobe out there. ball-hogging and all. slu.

  • James The Balla Posted: Nov.11 at 8:49 am
    R.I.P to all the fallen soldiers. Lest We Forget!!

  • awesomepossum Posted: Nov.11 at 8:57 am
    are we gonna ignore JO once and for all?

  • BETCATS Posted: Nov.11 at 8:58 am
    Rudy Ferandez+Derrick Rose+Mike Beasley+OJ Mayo all got legit shots at ROY honors.

  • BETCATS Posted: Nov.11 at 8:59 am
    @awesomepossum: i glanced at JO’s stat line, fu(kin beastly. He outplayed KG, too bad the Raptors lost. I guess we are gonna ignore him though.

  • Eboy Posted: Nov.11 at 9:00 am
    Shannon, pretty tacky comment regarding the two deceased Beatles. Not needed in your otherwise exceptional work.

  • BETCATS Posted: Nov.11 at 9:08 am
    come on eboy have a heart!

  • baron samedi Posted: Nov.11 at 9:09 am
    thats a harsh reference about the lennon and harrison! u bastards

  • FLUD Posted: Nov.11 at 9:10 am
    C’mon…we all know Ringo and Paul were the exciting ones.

  • Gerard Himself Posted: Nov.11 at 9:12 am
    No disrespect to Kevin Love, but Minnesota should’ve kept Mayo

  • Darksaber Posted: Nov.11 at 9:14 am
    OMG, KG defending (and yapping at) Calderon, THAT is why i watch NBA ball. Garnett really let him have it, and the tongue wagging was going back and forth, puta!! Fantastic, i like it when these guys get into it on the field without exchanging blows (or in Melo’s case, bi*tchslaps) and just balling up and down the court with higher than normal intensity. How, HOW can Garnett stay this crazed, this fanatical seven games in and only months after winning his beloved ring. Guy is going to d.i.e. the minute he stops playing proball… lack of stress syndrome. (Oh and Paul? Niiice fourth Quarter, you too Flash, cut out the posing though, still too early in the season for that rubbish)

  • Darksaber Posted: Nov.11 at 9:14 am
    OMG, KG defending (and yapping at) Calderon, THAT is why i watch NBA ball. What die José do to get the beast riled up? Slammers, insider info puhleeze. Garnett really let him have it, and the tongue wagging was going back and forth, puta!! Fantastic, i like it when these guys get into it on the field without exchanging blows (or in Melo’s case, bi*tchslaps) and just balling up and down the court with higher than normal intensity. How, HOW can Garnett stay this crazed, this fanatical seven games in and only months after winning his beloved ring. Guy is going to d.i.e. the minute he stops playing proball… lack of stress syndrome. (Oh and Paul? Niiice fourth Quarter, you too Flash, cut out the posing though, still too early in the season for that rubbish)

  • Darksaber Posted: Nov.11 at 9:15 am
    oops, sorry for the double post.

  • BETCATS Posted: Nov.11 at 9:18 am
    that was a beutiful double trouble darksaber, we should apologize to you. It brought a tear to my eye

  • Darksaber Posted: Nov.11 at 9:18 am
    Oh and Amare removes the shades, 24, 18 point games ensue. Ho hum. Amare with the shades, 49-11-6-5-2 games happen. Coincidence? I think not.

  • BETCATS Posted: Nov.11 at 9:19 am
    we arent worthy of it darksaber! we arent worthy! (j/k i am bored and now i am gonna go out on the town with my boyz(with a z)) peace!

  • Darksaber Posted: Nov.11 at 9:21 am
    Umm, BET? Thanks? *waiting for the other end of the shoe to drop*

  • Young Chris MP3 Posted: Nov.11 at 9:57 am
    Just because his stats were impressive doesn’t mean he “outplayed” Garnett. I watched the game and Garnett was giving dude problems all night, especially in the second half (and during the big 4th quarter run)

  • SMK Posted: Nov.11 at 10:17 am
    JO was beasting in the first half, less visible in the second as Big Baby leaned his big babyness on him. A man gets tired trying to push all that around, you know?

  • Darksaber Posted: Nov.11 at 10:23 am
    Oh and i agree to the fullest: free Alicia “sacre bleu” Sacramone. Now!

  • Jukai Posted: Nov.11 at 10:31 am
    Yesterday…. all my troubles seemed so far away… now it looks as though they’re here to stay, oh I believe, in yesterdayyyyyy…

  • albie1kenobi Posted: Nov.11 at 11:35 am
    Jukai: the Beatles version or Boyz II Men version?

  • Stewie Griffin Posted: Nov.11 at 1:00 pm
    “He even started pressing Jose Calderon full court, reaching and pointing and clapping and yapping the whole time. It was a beautiful sight to behold”. Are you kiddin’ me? He looked like a fool doing that, and the ref should have given him a T. Back in the days they were giving Mutombo technicals for waving the finger and the guy is literally mocking his opponent and no one moves ? He looked even more foolish 10 seconds later later when Calderon dished an assist despite his so-called defense. K.G. showed what kind of person he is: an amazingly talented basketball player and an amazingly uncultivated person. I guess that’s what happen when you leave school at 19.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Nov.11 at 1:25 pm
    @ Stewie Griffin: That comment just showed what kind of person you are: Very stupid.

  • TADOne Posted: Nov.11 at 1:40 pm
    You become a millionaire?

  • [...] As seen on SLAMOnline: [...]

  • Shannon Booher Posted: Nov.11 at 2:18 pm
    No way J.O. “out played” K.G…. he it wide open J’s in the first half when they left alone, basically, then folded to the slightest pressure in the clutch.

  • John D Posted: Nov.11 at 2:43 pm
    Whoever said that JO outplayed KG last night apparently didn’t realize that he had 19 points at halftime and finished with 23. Meanwhile KG ignited the team and the Garden with his defense in the 3rd quarter.

  • what Posted: Nov.11 at 2:43 pm
    I LOVED what KG did to Calderon, and Calderon’s subsequent predictable p-ssy azz b-tch reaction.

  • Shannon Booher Posted: Nov.11 at 2:48 pm
    I’m curious as to exactly what was said. At the peak of the talk, they headed to a timeout, and one the Toronto’s assistants was laughing, with Calderon pissed. Then Calderon seemed to crack a smile a bit later when somebody from the Ceatles’ bench said something.

  • Moose Posted: Nov.11 at 3:19 pm
    OJ Mayo. Wow. And Shannon, good piece, but I question Garnett in there. Pierce was incredible in the fourth quarter, he lifted us and carried us. He couldn’t miss a shot.

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Nov.11 at 3:59 pm
    Re: the photo. Nice defense, Goran.

  • Allenp Posted: Nov.11 at 5:53 pm
    KG should have gotten a tech, but I ain’t mad at him for talking trash.
    It’s amazing how many folks think talking trash is a bad thing. It’s really interesting.
    When I played football, I talked all game long to anybody who would listen once I got good. Shoot, my teammates had to pull me back to the huddle cause I talked so much. It got me hype.

  • Dacre Posted: Nov.11 at 8:30 pm
    Gerard Himself says:
    To be honest: I haven’t seen a Grizzlies game so far, but the stats Mayo is putting up in these last four games are impressive. How long can he keep this up? He’s actually also getting some steals along the way.
    _______________________________________________ He could probably “keep this up” long enough to pen out a solid 12 year career….
    Mayo is the topping!

  • Dacre Posted: Nov.11 at 8:33 pm
    Darksaber says:
    Oh and i agree to the fullest: free Alicia “sacre bleu” Sacramone. Now!
    ________________________________________________
    When she’s 18 perhaps.

  • Darksaber Posted: Nov.11 at 11:41 pm
    @Dacre: she isn’t of age yet? Dang! Ah well, back to pining for Megan la Fox it is.

  • Shannon Booher Posted: Nov.12 at 5:17 am
    Come on ya’ll… she’s 20+! Give me some credit.

  • Darksaber Posted: Nov.12 at 6:26 am
    i thought i’d read/heard that somewhere as well. Good clearing up, Shannon.

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