Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
It's the timing. It's the timing of the play, it's the timing of when I got the pass, the late rotation. If all that comes together at the right time, those things happen. It's not like I caught the ball and said "let's go make something happen." It just came together like that.
Well, it happens. At the end of the day, if you're a shot blocker, you're gonna get dunked on. It was a great play. I mean, obviously I wish I wasn't in it, but it was a great play.
This was pretty sick. But I gotta give Perk credit. Everyone's comparing it to the dunk on Timofey Mozgov, but Mozgov just stood there. At least Per tried to challenge the dunk. He went down fighting.
But make no mistake about it... Perk got destroyed by Blake last night. That was... wow.
I will miss seeing Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, together maybe for the last time. I know we've been writing this for a couple years, but THIS COULD REALLY BE THEIR LAST YEAR TOGETHER! HONEST! Garnett and Allen are in the final years of their respective contracts and the mileage is showing on KG. He was an on-again, mostly off-again presence in the playoffs last season. (For example: Game 3 against Miami: 28 points on 13-of-20 shooting and 18 rebounds. Games 1, 2, 4 and 5 against Miami: 11 ppg, 8.75 rpg and 18-of-52 shooting, including 1-of-10 in Game 4.) Allen, by contrast, seems to improve with age and is, as we all know, a fitness zealot. But at some point, you have to let their big numbers off the payroll and move forward. Maybe they'd come back for less. But it's time to look forward to ...
Blake Griffin.
Unlikely? Yes. Implausible? Totally. Fun to think about? Definitely. You say the Clippers are too smart to let that happen? Yeah, even the Clips probably won't screw up this one. But it's ultimately the kid's call. I'd put the Celtics' Covert Ops team on this one pronto -- assuming it isn't on the case already.
I'm probably reading way too much into this, but does Peter May know something about the Celtics and Blake Griffin?
Had he mentioned Dwight Howard, I wouldn't have paid it much attention. Hell, everyone is mentioning Dwight Howard. But I have yet to hear Griffin and Boston in the same sentence.
Peter - I demand you email me (redsarmy.com@gmail.com) and explain yourself. All comments will be kept off the record.
While scouring Hoop China for news during KG and Paul's trips to the Far East, I came across some fantastic art by an NBA fan named Wanli. Wanli submits alot of his art to the forums over at Hoop China, and his latest series features NBA players as characters from the book "Water Margin".
"Water Margin" is a classic tale of the outlaw Song Jiang and his 36 companions. It has been adapted into comic books, and a 1972 film by the legendary Shaw Brothers. Wanli has taken NBA players and turned them into characters from the book via caricatures. Some of the players he's drawn include Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Charles Barkley and Blake Griffin. I will be posting some of the illustrations over the next few weeks. Enjoy:
Our boy Rajon Rondo is back in the 2nd year of Foot Locker's "The Educators" promotion. "Mr. Rondo", the drama teacher joins Stat, (The Principal) Larry Fitzgerald, (Science) Blake Griffin (Detention) and Anna Pierce. (Math)
You can "enroll" in the Foot Locker Advantage Academy and complete a full-set of interactive courses-which consist of short video-clips. Check out the complete site here.
when And 1 Streetballer Guy Dupuy had an opportunity to dunk over a car in Poland, he knew his execution had to be on point for it to deserve any respect in the basketball community.
Dupuy didn’t disappoint at all. Instead of catching an alley-oop and jumping over the hood of a car like Griffin, Dupuy decided to jump straight over the middle of a car, grab a ball out of a guys hand, and put it through his legs before slamming it home
Awesome dunk. Better than Blake's. But to be fair... you can't gloat about jumping over the middle of a car when it's a convertible with the top down. You cleared just as much height as Blake did. In fact, if the top was up, I don't think you would have cleared it.
Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
After the fact, Krstic admitted to being very nervous leading up to tip-off.
“I think that’s normal,” said Krstic. “Especially for me, I’ve never been traded before and never been in this situation. So I was nervous. Even yesterday and shoot around this morning. The whole new situation. Everything is new and I wasn’t used to it.”
When Green finally got on the floor with little more than two minutes to play in the first quarter, he botched a screen trying to spring Allen, got dunked on by Randy Foye trying to defend a fast-break situation, and clanged the front end of a pair of free throws before making the back end for his first points in a Boston uniform.
Then he exhaled.
"I said, 'I had to get the first one out,' but, after the first one I kind of relaxed," said Green. "I got my rhythm and things started to go well for me."
It's not surprising that these guys were nervous. Think about the move they made.
They left a small city where basketball has only existed for a few years to join a major market franchise that defines the NBA. They left a a team where the best player is 22 years old to join a team full of veterans. They left a team with very little playoff experience to join a championship winning team that's been through hundreds of playoff games.
I love the Thunder. They're a fun team and a promising team and I really can't say anything bad about them. But that's small potatoes compared to putting on the green and white jersey. It just is. In fact, it's probably good that they're joining the team on the road. This way they can just sit and learn from these guys rather than also getting overwhelmed by the atmosphere in Boston as well. It's really going to hit them when they actually get here and play a few home games.
But in the end, it really is just basketball. So if you can separate yourself from all this other stuff, you'll end up being fine. The pressure, the fans, the history... that's all stuff to talk about with the media before and after the game. But for 48 minutes, it's the same game you've played your whole life. So these guys will be fine.
The change of scenery did push Krstic to be a little more aggressive on the boards, though. He admitted as much after the game, and Doc (well, Doc and Lawrence Frank) had the line of the post-game news conference.
as newly acquired center Nenad Krstic hauled in offensive carom after offensive carom Saturday night, coach Doc Rivers turned to top assistant Lawrence Frank and asked if this was normal for him.
"I said, 'Does he do that all the time?' and Lawrence said, 'If he did, I'd still be in New Jersey,'" Rivers relayed with a smile. Frank coached Krstic during his four seasons with the Nets at the start of his NBA career.
Game Time: 10:30 PM, Staples Center. TV: CSN Radio: WEEI
Team leaders:
Scoring Boston: Paul Pierce (18.9 ppg) Los Angeles: Eric Gordon (24.1 ppg)
Rebounding: Boston: Kevin Garnett (9.1 rpg) Los Angeles: Blake Griffin (12.5 rpg)
Assists: Boston: Rajon Rondo (12.2 apg) Los Angeles: Eric Gordon (4.5 apg)
Who'll go off: Rajon Rondo
After the trade with Cleveland, Mo Williams will be matched up against Rajon for a good chunk of the night if he can get cleared to play in time. Rondo typically does pretty well against him. He's dropped double digit assists in 7 of the last 10 games against him and he's averaging 17 points in his last 6 matchups with Mo Gotti.
If it's not Mo, then it'll be rookie Eric Bledsoe on Rajon. He's super-quick, but so is Rondo... and Rondo's got more tricks up his sleeve. I like Rondo against the rookie any day. Rondo's also averaging 15.6 ppg against the Clips... his highest average against any one opponent. Expect a switch to go off in Rajon's head tonight.
Who needs to be stopped: Blake Griffin
The C's got really lucky in this one because Eric Gordon is out with a wrist injury. Gordon is having an amazing season for the Clips... perhaps one of the quietest great seasons in the NBA. That's because Griffin is overshadowing him.
Griffin can do more than dunk, folks. He's averaging 22.8 ppg and 12.5 rpg. He's had only 10 games in which he hasn't gotten a double-double. And while most of his shots DO come at the rim (or from about about a foot or two above the rim, to be exact), he does take, and make, shots from further out. But if they can cut off his path to the hoop and make him take more jumpers than usual, they'll be in good shape. He's shooting less than 34% from 10-15 feet. Keep him in that range a majority of the game and you'll be ok.
The C's will lose if: The news guys can't pitch in
Let's face it, Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic have to give this team something tonight. Krstic will just have to pull a Semih Erden out there and just keep his hands ready for open passes at all times. Guys won't be shy about passing him the ball... but he's just got to be ready for it. And Green needs to come off the bench and hit shots. He'll be nowhere near ready to be a fluid part of the offense, but he's just got to play his game, get comfortable, and hit some shots. I would expect him to get in there with Rondo a bunch so he can be set up a lot more than creating his own shot. If I were Doc, I'd find a way to get him in there with a few of the starters early just so he can feed off them and get comfortable. If these guys have bad games, then this might be a tough one to watch.
Miscellany: The Clippers have won 9 of their last 10 home games. The Celtics have lost their last two road games at the Clippers, but played once without KG and once without Pierce.
Prediction: The C's begin the process of moving on without Perk. The emotional shock of it all is gone, and the team is now focused on getting the new guys in. With their own selfish goals of adding rings to the resume, the Big 3 will not let a couple of trades stand in their way. Tonight, they take advantage of a mediocre (albeit exciting) team facing its own disarray after a trade and they win by double digits, 100-90
After the jump, Accuscore runs the game through its simulator
Those of you who know me know I'm a huge kicks and memorabilia guy. I spend alot of time browsing NBA Auctions' site, and today they have some real sweet items up for bid.
You can now bid on the actual jerseys that Pierce, Garnett, Allen and Rondo wore in the 2011 All-Star game.
The site recently auctioned off all of the game-worn jerseys from the Celts' Christmas Day tilt with the Magic. The entire 2011 NBA All-Star game lot is open for bidding until 3/17/2011.
If you're bored with the All Star break and looking to pass the time until tomorrow night's game... head on over to SubwayDunkFresh.com and pretend to be Blake Griffin. If you've ever seen the "Elf Yourself" stuff over the holidays, then you'll know what this is about. Pick a photo of yourself, slap it on Blake Griffin's body, and see what you'd look like throwing any one of five different dunks.
I don't need to do it because I've actually dunked a basketball a few times in my life. I expect Chuck, however, to be on this for a week trying to pass it off as lost footage that proves he could get more than two inches off the ground.
Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
With Pierce out of the picture, Ray was up, needing a 21 to emerge victorious and put the icing on his recently acquired three-point crown. He didn’t.
He started off the final session cold, was actually eliminated before reaching the final rack and finished with 15.
"I wanted to win badly,” said Allen, “and I didn't need to talk about it. I just wanted to do it. So it just ... again, if I could find a gym tonight I'd go through it again, just to get that feeling out of my stomach."
Man, having that kind of drive and obsessiveness really is a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand, it's what made him what he is. The guy is perhaps the best shooter of all time because he works on his shot so obsessively. He's in the gym before everyone... he's there late. Doc said flat out Ray takes more jumpers than anyone he's ever seen.
On the other hand, he can't take a loss at a simple little event like the 3-point shootout without wanting to hit the gym immediately and rectify whatever he felt was off. I'll bet it ate at him for the rest of the night. Hell... I'll bet it's still bugging him this morning.
So yeah... his drive and desire are amazing. But that same drive and desire can be a curse too.
