Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 9:40 am  |  30 responses

Line Of The Night — Conspiracy

C-P-3-Spiracy.

by Shannon Booher

Line Of The Night:

Chris Paul — 33 points, 11 assists, 10 boards, 7 steals

He one-man-showed this game. Despite Jason Kidd going slot machine (7pts/7asts/7rebs), CP3, with little to no help, took the road win. But when we found out LeBron (triple-double last night) Dirkais playing Paul on Friday, on ESPN, it all started to feel like a big conspiracy.

Beast Of The Night:

Brad Mizzle — 30 points, 22 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block

A ridiculous effort in an absurd marathon of a game. Nobody wanted to win, as Sacramento and G-State missed shot after shot, opportunity after opportunity in three overtimes! Free basketball, playas and playettes. Despite J-Creezy playing a full five quarters worth of action (60 minutes), the Warriors could not put this one away to fully complete their 4th quarter comeback. After they lost three starters due to foul outs to Sactown’s 0, they just got out-manned. This was the bottom-feeder Yin to the Lakers/Spurs Western Conference supremacy Yang, for sure.

Contraction Club Of The Night:

Portland Trailblazers — 79 points vs. Illadelph

Freeway actually wrote more verses last night than Portland scored points. FREE MIX!

Near Larry Bird Of The Night:

Tim Duncan — 20 points, 10 boards, 8 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal

Every time there’s “Best Player” in the League talk, there should at least be an obligatory throw in of “and don’t forget that old dog Tim Duncan, he’s still getting it done,” or something to that effect. Although often a bogus award, when a guy whens the MVP two years running, he is generally in the mix for the “Best Player in the World” crown. Duncan did that at his peak, producing these numbers:

01-02: 25.5 pts, 12.7 rebs, 3.7 asts, 2.5 blks in 40.6 mins
02-03: 23.3 pts, 12.9 rebs, 3.9 asts, 2.9 blks in 39.3 mins

Now check this year:

08-09: 20.4 pts, 10.1 rebs, 3.5 asts, 1.8 blks in 35.4 mins

Wow. That is not much fall off. Give him 5 more minutes a game, and it is even closer. Is playing big minutes part of being the best player? Yes. Is there some decline? For sure. But should the boy get more love? Definitely. Just ask Kobe (Roger Mason… FOR THE WIN!!!).

Near Beast Of The Night:

Marcus Camby — 18 boards, 12 points, 4 blocks, 2 steals

It will never happen in a million years, but shouldn’t the Lakers trade Andrew Bynum for Marcus A-TrainCamby? Don’t the Lakers dream that Bynum might be half the player Camby is right now? Last night Bynum snatched THREE rebounds in 35 minutes. As your boy Ta-Nehisi Coates would say, weaksauce!

Warriors fans = awesome, in stark contrast to the simultaneously catacombesque Staples Center, which hosted the Clip Joint/Atlanta game last night… The Pistons with back-to-back MISSED buzzer-beaters. A.I. on Tuesday, Rip on Wednesday. So close… Looks like the Ceatles are back on track now, winning three in a row, including a little 32-point serving of smash time to Dirty Jers, last night… Nick Young = pure, raw, unadulterated, uncut, pristine, unblemished sugar cane offense… Anthony Randolph–get on the floor, young fella!… Anthony Parker needs to be on a contender. That vicious fall-away baseline J needs to have an impact in the playoffs… Il Mago balling (career-high 31 points), T-Dot still losing. What happens when Jermaine O’Neal comes back?…

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

  • Ryne Nelson Posted: Jan.15 at 9:42 am
    I’m not sure what’s going on with Andrew Bynum, but I wonder if it has anything to do with Gasol. He was getting double-doubles every game before his injury last season…

  • ticktock6 Posted: Jan.15 at 9:48 am
    Little to no help from who? CP had 4 teammates in double figures. I feel bad for Warrior fans. When they beat Boston, that place was rocking. They’re still bringing it this year… that probably makes them the best fans in the league.

  • Tzvi T Posted: Jan.15 at 9:50 am
    And Paul’s alma mater is getting it done.

  • SLAM ONLINE | Posted: Jan.15 at 10:03 am
    [...] C-P-3-Spiracy [...]

  • NACHOveli Posted: Jan.15 at 10:10 am
    cp triple sure had the line of the night,and is one of the best players in the L, but dude has my vote for best jordan colorways. those black and teal aj xxiii’s are uber nasty!!!! gotta get my mits on a pair of those!!

  • Darksaber Posted: Jan.15 at 10:30 am
    Brad Miller must have stepped into a fountain of youth. 30&22?? Or did he drink Dwight’s blood. What a stat line. I have so had it with the Hornets owning the Mavs lately, arrrrgh! Dirk, don’t waste 44 on a loss, those points would have been nice today, damnit. Ah well, lots more games to come.

  • Ken Posted: Jan.15 at 10:55 am
    Nick Young was so efficient too. He hit all 3 of his 3s, all 4 of his FTs, and he was something crazy like 14/17 FGs.
    And yeah, I didn’t think Brad Miller still had a 20 rebound game in him. Crazy lines.

  • Co Co Posted: Jan.15 at 10:58 am
    The fact that the Lakers didn’t make him play for that contract is what’s wrong with him Ryne. For a team that has championship aspirations it seems like it would have made more sense to make him play out the season. It could have produced ridiculous numbers. We all know how much better some guys play in a contract year. But, since they gave him the money in the beginning of the season this is what they can expect.

  • Darksaber Posted: Jan.15 at 11:02 am
    Plus, playing alongside Lumberjack Pau would suck the life outta me as well.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Jan.15 at 11:06 am
    Nick Young = pure, raw, unadulterated, uncut, pristine, unblemished sugar cane offense
    Young Nick has been shooting his ass off! When he’s hot like that I’m not sure there’s anyone who gets hotter.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Jan.15 at 11:11 am
    Bynum doesn’t seem to have matured at all. Last season the Kobe nonsense really lit a fie under him and you could see it in his game. Now that he’s got that bread, he thinks he Al Jefferson or some other big who doesn’t really “have to” rebound and defend because his O is so strong. I hope Kupchack isnt reading this because I do not want to see that Lakers with Camby in Bynum’s place.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Jan.15 at 11:13 am
    Can Manu get some love?! That pull up 3 at the end of the third was MURDER. He was attacking the paint and wetting threes as wellas getting a couple crucial steals off of Kobe. He’s just getting healthy and I stand by my assertion that, when healthy, he’s a top 5 SG in the world.

  • AlbertBarr Posted: Jan.15 at 11:14 am
    Brad Miller is the only good big on Sac’s roster. To bad he really should be given the chance to compete for a chip. He would be a great piece for some teams. The Kings need like four pieces to be a competitive (and by that I mean playoffs maybe) team so…

  • ciolkstar Posted: Jan.15 at 11:15 am
    Brad Miller to the Spurs could work. With his high post passing and our cutters (Manu, Tony, George Hill) his D, or lack thereof, would be the only concern. I don’t the Spurs really have any moveable pieces though.

  • AlbertBarr Posted: Jan.15 at 11:20 am
    Ginobli was good last night…but he made several really stupid mistakes that were not forced by anyone. He and Tony seem to do that. Every five or six times down the court one of them takes a ridiculously bad shot. Most of Manu’s ridiculous shots go in. I like his personal story so I can’t hate to hard and Tony seems like a mild guy but man…limit those moments of reckless abandon and they would be even better. Maybe it is just gettin’ into a groove from injury still…Kobe also turned the ball over at least three time in the first trying to do some and-1 sh-t at the top of the three-line…Kobe definitely did to much Grandstanding last night…love to watch those two teams.

  • AlbertBarr Posted: Jan.15 at 11:21 am
    B-Miller would rock the spurs. He is the rich man’s Matt Bonner.

  • AlbertBarr Posted: Jan.15 at 11:22 am
    His D isn’t terrible…just don’t play him without T-Robot and that sh-t would be scary

  • AlbertBarr Posted: Jan.15 at 11:23 am
    He would probably be a hit with the locals…seems like he could fit in down in Texas “C’mon y’all, let’s go hunt some armadilla’ with my compound bow!”

  • James The Balla Posted: Jan.15 at 11:37 am
    Let me ask a question here!! I see all these lin eof the nights and near larry birds and near beats… has Kobe ever gotta one of these? The game he had the other night but lost. Cp was mentioned, and West was mentioned but Kobe doesn’t get any of them. Is Shannon a Kobe hater?

  • Young Chris MP3 Posted: Jan.15 at 11:46 am
    Ryne Nelson: No he wasn’t.

  • a_whiteman Posted: Jan.15 at 12:07 pm
    How about granger with yet another game winning/tying shot.

  • niQ Posted: Jan.15 at 12:27 pm
    Now that Bargnani is playing so well, I just wish JO would stop getting injured.

  • whooo! Posted: Jan.15 at 12:53 pm
    duncan’s production is ridiculously slept on. somehow, it’s possible that the best to ever play his position is actually overlooked. but the biggest reason aside from the lack of flash is, well dude’s been doing this since day 1. when you’re all-nba as a rook, finals mvp the next year, he was already considered best in the game. in ’03, he was killing l.a. and hanging a near quad-double in the finals – undoubtedly the best in the game. SIX YEARS after this, and a full decade after his first ring, he’s definitely not the best in the league anymore, but he’s still top 5. all-nba & all-defense since his first year… it seems he’s almost done TOO MUCH already that we actually just stop talking about him.

  • Shannon Booher Posted: Jan.15 at 2:21 pm
    JTB — There are quantifiable stats needed to get “Near…”. Read your L.O.N. manual. And yes, L.O.N. supports Kobe only in the case of emergency. Do your L.O.N. history.

  • L.O.N. » Blog Archive » Line Of The Night — 01/14/2009 NBA Basketball Posted: Jan.15 at 2:31 pm
    [...] As seen on SLAMOnline: [...]

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jan.15 at 3:21 pm
    whooo!, timmy is the man. GINOBILI! if only mcdyess would have went to the spurs, kurt thomas is still crazy though. the spurs are looking like they could be playing in June……rip pimp c

  • Tarzan Cooper Posted: Jan.15 at 3:38 pm
    “C’mon y’all, let’s go hunt some armadilla’ with my compound bow!”

  • Phil B Posted: Jan.15 at 5:16 pm
    oden > bynum

  • wilz Posted: Jan.18 at 1:59 am
    AP is defnitely the man…its too bad the raptors arent that contender he’s making an impact in the playoffs on..
    maybe a couple of trades will change things around…

  • and1ballermj2350 Posted: Jan.21 at 12:14 pm
    Duncan Legend!!

Comments




The comments section is a place to further discuss the topics in this post. Commenters who seek to accomplish any of the following may be banned: - Personally attack other commenters. - Make derogatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation or religion. - Troll, or comment with the intention of creating problems. Trolling includes, but isn't limited to, baiting people to flame at you, encouraging people to leave the site, spamming and using alternate IDs.