Post Up: The Green Hornet

Rondo and the C’s roll; Knicks win at home.

by Adam Figman | @afigman

Peace, pigskin. It’s officially all-eyes-on-hoops season. Let’s get it.

I was in the building yesterday at MSG for this one, and though the score stayed tight up until the last few minutes, the Knicks looked like they had solid control throughout. Pretty much everything was going right for ‘em—the ball was moving, the shots were falling (59.7 percent from the field!?), Amar’e Stoudemire (41 points) was doing his thing, and so on. It’d be easy to say that this contest was a hugely important one, especially given the opponent, a division rival, but home-and-homes are generally split between teams of equal or similar talent. So the bigger story would’ve been if the Knicks continued to struggle and dropped this one, but, without that being the case, I guess we should bottle the hate and move along. More exciting news: On Wednesday, the Knicks host the Clippers for the first time since Blake Griffin did a terrible, terrible thing to Timofey Mozgov’s ego. After yesterday’s tilt, when a reporter asked Moz what he knows about Griffin, the Russian center simply said: “Too much.” We’ll see if Timofey learns anything new about the high-flying rookie in a few days.

Indiana 105, New Jersey 86

Even worse news for the Sixers than that loss to the Knicks should be this game. Sure, the outcome won’t help Philly, with Indiana on their tail and Charlotte not far behind, but it’s the bigger picture—the fact that the Pacers are red hot and are showing few signs of slowing down—that should scare the 76ers. This win brings Indy to 4-0 under new coach Frank Vogel, as six Pacers scored in double figures and they cruised over the Nets. That’s pretty much all you need to know. Oh, wait. Right. This happened:

(H/T: @outsidenthenba)

Miami 97, L.A. Clippers 79

Bring a West Coast team to the East, where the time difference tends to mess with the players’ sleep routines and such, then ask them to play a game at noon EST—or 9 a.m. PST—and yeah, they’re gonna be a little off. And so it was, as the Heat rolled over the Clippers. LeBron James did very little, scoring only 12, but it was Dwyane Wade who stepped up and made it happen, putting in 28 and leading the Heat during the fourth. Blake Griffin went for 21 and 16, but neither he nor his squad shot well, and the Clips fell in not-so-dramatic fashion. Their road trip continues tomorrow in Orlando, where they play the Magic before heading north to NYC.

Boston 91, Orlando 80

The Magic aren’t in “trouble” in any sense—they’re still a top contender in the Eastern Conference. But, if their goal is to knock off the Heat/Celts and get to the Finals, well, they’ve got a little ways to go, because they just ain’t there yet. The C’s took down the Magic yesterday, holding every non-Dwight Howard Orlando player to 12 points or less and holding the team as a whole to just 80. Rajon Rondo went on a rare scoring tear, dropping 26, while Kendrick Perkins didn’t score at all but snatched 13 rebounds. Also, Marquis Daniels banged his head on the floor and went down real, real hard in the second quarter,needing to be removed by a stretcher. Word is at best he’ll probably miss a couple of months, but given a scare like that, to hear that he’ll be OK sooner or later is good to hear.

Actual Stats: Amar’e Stoudemire: 41 points, 7 boards, 4 dimes, 4 blocks, 1 steal

Last Call: Oh hey, Blake. I didn’t see you over there.

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Tags: Boston Celtics, Features, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, The Post Up

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http://slamonline.com tealish

Cosign Allenp.
@T-Money — part of the reason why Kobe “gets it done ALL THE TIME regardless of the defense thrown at home”, is because of his extensive repitoire.
Production is production, I hear you. That’s regular season stuff; Production rightfully gets you the regular season MVP. The admiration of a virtually complete basketball player comes with the fact that no matter what happens, whatever defense is employed, when your playoff lives are on the line, the guy has no flaw — he will kill you one way or another. That’s not only beautiful to watch, but also what I want in my trenches come playoff time.
http://slamonline.com tealish

at him*
http://slamonline.com Allenp

Tealish
Can’t forget to add “if Kobe feels like it.”
That’s the one thing you have to add when discussing him “if he feels like it.”
http://twitter.com/smileyoufckers Bryan

The thing about having a skillset like Kobe’s is that you basically can’t stop him from scoring at all. Guys who put up the same numbers but with a more limited skillset you can game plan against. You take away one thing from Kobe and he has 10 other things he can do to you. Some guys if you take away their strong stuff, get flustered.
http://slamonline.com Allenp

Bryan
Well, I think that given where he is in his career, you know it’s harder for him to beat a smart, quick defender off the bounce, and finish over bigs in the lane. So, you would hope to turn him into a long jump shooter.
But there are a problems with that plan. One, Kobe still ain’t slow, and he still knows how to get to the line. So, there aren’t that many defenders who can stay in front of him even at this stage in his career. Two, most of the cats who can keep him in front, can’t bang with him on the block, and he puts people on the block with the quickness.
Three, and this is the most important one, when Kobe decides to avoid forcing shots, he is an excellent passer off the bounce and has been for years. Several times against the Hornets he would get in the lane, and instead of trying to shoot, he would lay it off to Gasol or Bynum for easy dunks.
So, as a team your options for defending him or limited because you need great team or individual defense, plus you need Kobe to refuse to play intelligently because he’s frustrated with his teammates or trying to prove a point. That’s the only way to stop dude right now.
T-Money

bryan, allen: i agree with versatility being an asset to get it done all the time, i’m not saying cats shouldn’t be well rounded. but it’s not absolutely necessary to be versatile, sometimes it’s even a bad idea to go away from doing what you do best until it is empirically proven that your go-to move is guardable. shaq got it done all the time with a hook shot off his left shoulder and a power dribble off his right shoulder. everybody knew what was coming but ain’t a damn thing you could do about it. that’s really my only point, let’s wait until defenses figure out how to stop blake from dunking all over their faces before asking him to expand his arsenal. he’s at 23 ppg with 50+ fg in his first year!
T-Money

allen: i agree that kobe’s demise is somewhat exaggerated. he can still give the business to the vast majority of 2-guards. but he can’t go through great individual (i.e. wade in the xmas game) or team defense (boston, all the time) like he used to. however, you can always bait kobe into a bad shooting night because he’s just wired that way. he can play facilitator for a quarter or a half but his make up won’t let him do it for a whole game (unless he’s trying to prove a point). he is who he is. it’ll be interesting to see how his career evolves when he won’t be the number 1 option since it doesn’t look like he’s retiring anytime soon.
http://www.twitter.com/TheDiesel Anton

@Enigmatic – pretty sure Yao will be voted an All-Star even after he retires.
http://nobulljive.com/ Enigmatic

I wouldn’t doubt it. They’ll probably have a massive write-in campaign for him, Anton.
http://www.twitter.com/TheDiesel Anton

No mention of LeBron during flagrant-2 official review: “I got a Super Bowl party to go to man, c’mon.” Committed to the game…unless there’s a party to go to.
http://nobulljive.com/ Enigmatic

Wow. I just read about that, Anton.
What a douche. Love the player. Hate the man.
http://slamonline.com tealish

The best way to stop Kobe is to bully Gasol. Get Pau playing soft and scared. He’ll lose Kobe’s trust mid-game, and Mamba will stop playing smart and start forcing.
T-Money

Are you guys kidding me? You have no idea what the context was or if he was smiling when he said that or if the ref took the comment in stride. I bet that type of stuff is said every game. Players joke with refs all the time and among each others all the time, perhaps he just wanted to point out to the refs that they had been debating for a while. This is such a non-issue and questioning Bron (OR ANY OTHER PLAYER) commitment to the game based off that is so stupid. Almost insane.
T-Money

I mean, let’s judge how players are committed to the game by their production, effort, and desire to get better. And if you don’t think Bron is committed to the game based on that, then that’s an opinion that can be debated. GTFOH with the jokey-jokey remarks to officials or the late night partying.
http://twitter.com/smileyoufckers Bryan

Desire to get better.. like his post game? Just saying.
http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Moose

@Enigmatic: I stand corrected. Although, Anton does have the right idea there, Yao averaged 13.5 and 8.2 that year. Ehhhh. Blake’s the first non-fan-voted (aka educated) pick for all-stars in the rookie season since Duncan, eh?
And yeah, I haven’t been on here that much. I’m planning on getting back a bit. Been busy with school and all of that, I’m returning now, we’ll see how I do. Nice to be missed(?) though, thanks for the tip.
JTaylor21

Give it up Money, you will never persuade people who are pre-programmed to hate. I was waiting for someone to pick up on that non-story and run with it. I would have said that same ish if my team was up 15 vs the clips and the refs were wasting everyone’s time when they could have just called a simple pushing foul and got it over with.
JTaylor21

People that talk about Bron having no post game probably haven’t seen Mia play this year instead they rely on SC to get their “knowledge”. Seeing is believing.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

1. I’ve said this before and I guess I’ll reiterate: Blake is a lot more experienced than most of the superstar rookies in the past. Lebron’s first year in the NBA was technically his freshmen year of college, Rose and Durant’s were their sophomore year of college…. this should be Blake Griffin’s SENIOR year of college. He had two years of college to polish his game and an entire year off to practice with his team, study the NBA game, prepare and build up strength before ever taking the court. So, of course Griffin’s gonna be better than a lot of other past superstar rookies.
2. I like Chalmers starting the game, cause I like House off the bench. Chalmers is a defense-only guy, and with Big Z in the game for extra offense, they don’t need Chalmers. They need House with “I’m so ungodly awful” Anthony.
3. My father said this to me two days ago when I said I was angry that the Lakers were trying to turn Kobe into more of a point, “if Kobe had the sight and ability to pass all the time, he’d be Jordan.” That statement’s pretty close to the truth.
4. Lebron’s post game is sort of cheap, but it’s getting effective. Instead of keeping his back turned to the basket, he’ll back down a defender, sometimes do a few fakes, and either shoot a turnaround or pivot to FACE THE BASKET…. then he’ll drop it in. He still can’t score without directly facing the basket, but hey, he’s scoring while posting!!!!
5. Yao Ming is turning into Ralph Sampson v2. If he already isn’t.
6. Last point: I was writing about Griffin’s lack of polished offense around two months into the season. Griffin has such great bball IQ and is so smart with his shots, it was hard to notice in the beginning of the year. Now with Gordon out, Griffin is trying to force the issue and go outside his game a bit and it’s far more obvious. I don’t care though: props for Griffin trying to carry his team and doing things he’s not necessarily comfortable with to get the Ws. There are several point guards I adore in this league who I wish would do the same.
http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

An All-Star is an All-Star, Moose. Other players have made the All-Star team with not-so-great stats, either. Duncan made the team THIS YEAR with 13 and 9. You can’t just discredit Yao’s first All-Star appearance because you want to hype Blake Griffin up even more. An All-Star is an All-Star.
http://slamonline.com Allenp

Bron’s post game is rudimentary at best. It’s improved, but it’s still rudimentary.
But, I would have told the refs I was ready to catch my Super Bowl party too. Come on son, let’s be real. Dude was at work and he was ready to go home. That’s real life.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

Oh, one more thing: why did they take Marquis Daniels to New England Baptist? I’m mystified. Mass General is about five minutes away from TD Banknorth, and it’s one of the greatest hospitals in the US. Out of all the amazing hospitals in Boston, they took him to like, the one that is furthest away? This is the Celtics, call his doctor over to Mass General for f’s sakes.
http://slamonline.com Allenp

Sam Smith says Gilbert Arenas got served for child support payments during the game against the Celtics. That’s cold blooded. Then again, Sam Smith wrote and openly speculated without any actual facts.
http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

“Excuse me while I kiss the sky.”
http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Moose

@Teddy-the-Bear: Fan-voted All Stars aren’t quite the same. You can say that Yao’s selection this year wasn’t justified, right?? He played in three games or something like that. The coaches voted Duncan this year, but that’s because he’s leading the team with the best record in the NBA. I’m allowed to say that Yao’s rookie campaign wasn’t all-star worthy because the fans voted him in, and Yao gets China’s support 100%, that’s why he was voted this year. Yao’s an automatic in. I don’t pretend to know more than the coaches, but I don’t think that fan voting ends up horribly wrong sometimes.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

Moose: While I get your point, it’s reallllly hard to justify Duncan getting in the all-star team this year.
http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Moose

True, but still, Duncan is still the leader on the best team (well, the team with the best record) in the NBA. It’s probably his last go-round for the all-stars and the coaches want to give him his due. I’m with you though.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

Moose: Well I hope the all-star game “honors” him then, the same way it did with Dr. J and Magic and MJ. Actually, that’s the only way I’d be okay with Duncan’s inclusion.
http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Moose

Well, maybe Coach Pop will give him extra time, being the coach for the West. Or none at all, knowing Popovich.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

Well, who starts at center? Gasol, Duncan or Love?
http://hibachi20.blogspot.com Moose

I want Love, but it’ll be Gasol or Duncan. Probably Gasol. Love deserves it.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

I actually forgot about the West’s small forward lineup… against Howard, it’s gotta be Gasol and Duncan!
T-Money

re: bron’s post game. it’s rudimentary by design. the miami staff basically told him to go through guys down low and stop with the pretty fakes. there was an article in one of the miami papers on this. they want him to go slow on the block and just overpower tiny small forwards. bron is basically posting like a mini shaq right now, it’s been pretty effective. bryan, i don’t know if you’re watching a lot of miami games this year but he’s spending a lot of time on the block. again, it’s not really pretty but it’s effective. actually the numbers show that bron was leading the nba in points per post possession last year and i’m sure he’s up there this year too.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

T-Money: Uhmm…. Sir, I have watched 95% of the Heat’s games this year. He only posts ups about three to five times a game, only on mismatches, and generally winds up facing up for the shot. Three to five times a game could be considered a “lot of time” considering he has to spend time with Wade/Bosh but I’m just clarifying, the way I sorta read yer post, it made it seem like he was doing half of his work down there.
Scoring points in the post is not the same as “working in the post” which generally means posting up with your back behind the basket. Scoring points in the post can come from rebound-put backs, facing up after receiving the ball, off stopped drives (I don’t think all drives, correct?). He has only been EFFECTIVELY posting up the last five to ten games or so.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

You know, the referees might as well throw the game to the Warriors, this is ridiculous. Did they not want a blowout or something?
http://www.bulls.com Enigmatic

F*ck what David Stern and the coaches think, LaMarcus Aldridge is an all-star.
That motherf*cker beat my Bulls damn near by himself.
As pissed as I am right now, I gotta give it up to him.
Rose still had the best dunk of the game though.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

Well, the Suns are fighting against the refs and Gentry’s awful, confusing rotations. Gosh. I’m turning the game off.
T-Money

jukai: wayyy more than 3-5 times. you’re forgetting the high post and the pinch post. i don’t care how you actually go about scoring in the post, again it’s a matter of production. rebounds dont count tho. stopped drives, face ups from up close and backing ppl down counts.
http://sdfklf.com Jukai

T-Money: I mean, when I think post, I think Lebron putting his back to the basket and going to work. If you’re talking about Lebron catching the ball and facing up in the paint, well, we’re talking about two different things.

Post Up: The Green Hornet

Rondo and the C’s roll; Knicks win at home.

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