Feb22

Lin-Illustrated

by DOC on February 22nd, 2012 at 5:56 pm
Posted In: NBA

Jeremy Lin hits the cover of Sports Illustrated for the second week in a row.

Not Shaq, Kobe, LeBron, Carmelo, Wade, Durant, Duncan, Garnett… no NBA player has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated two weeks in a row ever besides Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Jordan, and now Jeremy Lin.

Linsanity has swept the nation.  I wrote this article on Feb. 4 suggesting that Jeremy Lin be the starter after performing great in one game before ever getting his shot to be the starter.  We all know what’s happened since, Lin has shown he can be a very special all-star caliber point-guard for many years to come.  Feb. 4 was not-so-coincidentally the same day that the Lin took the Knicks on a seven game win streak.

Lin’s averaging 14.6 points and 5.7 assists on the season and the numbers a deflated because of the times he played mop-up minutes before he got his shot.

During his time as a starter he’s scoring at 24.6 points per game and dishing it out at an impressive 9.2 assists per game.  If he can come close to living up to those numbers going forward, then the Knicks are a legitimate championship contender and don’t try to tell me different because you’re wrong.  Jeremy Lin, Carmelo Anthony, and a plethora of other options is too much firepower for teams to handle in a seven-game-series.

I prayed to the basketball gods for a point guard to save my Knicks season and they answered me with what feels like a dream.  It’s amazing that Lin never got his shot before, but like he says ‘You have to see me play more than once to appreciate what I can do.’

From sleeping on Landry Fields couch to the penthouse in a matter of weeks.

└ Tags: ,
 Comment 
Feb22

Nike’s Big 3

by DOC on February 22nd, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Posted In: NBA

Nike ALL-STAR Orlando 2012 Galaxy pack. Kobe, LeBron, and Durant.

└ Tags: , , ,
 Comment 
Feb22

Le Général T.P.

by DOC on February 22nd, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Posted In: NBA

The resurgence of Tony Parker as an elite caliber NBA point guard has the Spurs riding high at 23-10

Most people thought that the Spurs were completely done after getting beat in the first round by the Memphis Grizzlies last season, but the great play of Tony Parker has carried them to being the same old winning Spurs so far.

I would even go as far to say that Parker is a legitimate MVP candidate after his impressive month of Feb.  He took a night off to rest yesterday and the Spurs were beat by 40, but before that, T.P. had led them to an unheard of eight straight road victories.  Obviously that award is going to be given to guys like LeBron James, Derrick Rose, or Kevin Durant.. however no player has meant more to the success of their team than Parker.

Parker’s last three games have highlighted his ability to fill up the stat sheet in multiple categories.

  • Feb 20 at Utah – 23 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, Spurs win by 4
  • Feb 18 at LAC – 30 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds, Spurs win by 3
  • Feb 16 at Tor – 34 points, 14 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, Spurs win by 7

On the season, Parker is averaging 19.5 points and 7.9 assists per game.  That’s 11th in the NBA in scoring and 7th in assists.

With Ginobili constantly hurt and Tim Duncan playing well, but old, the pressure for the Spurs to win is more on Parker’s shoulders than ever and he’s handled it amazingly on the court. Parker excels at getting into the painted area and throwing up a floater or setting up a big man perfectly.  T.P. is 29-years-old at the moment, but is showing no signs of slowing down and, in my mind, has firmly placed himself among the leagues elite point-gods. 

It hasn’t just been the last three games, the entire month of February has seen Parker step his game up in the scoring department.  He’s averaging 25.5 points per game for this month while averaging 8.2 assists.

Season Highlights:

  • 42 points, 9 assists in win vs OKC on 2/4
  • 37 points, 8 assists in win at Philly on 2/8
  • 20 points, 17 assists in win vs Nola on 1/23
  • 20 points, 13 assists in loss at Hou on 1/21
  • 25 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds in win at Orl on 1/18
  • 28 points, 8 assists in win vs Hou on 1/11
  • 21 points, 8 assists in win vs Warriors on 1/4
└ Tags: ,
 Comment 
Feb21

U.S.A. Uniforms

by DOC on February 21st, 2012 at 3:11 pm
Posted In: NBA

Nike unveils Team U.S.A. hyper elite uniforms, London 2012

└ Tags:
 Comment 
Feb20

Nightmare at MSG

by DOC on February 20th, 2012 at 10:18 pm
Posted In: NBA

Deron Williams goes insane against the Knicks in the garden and tears them from limb to limb.

Deron Williams had revenge on his mind and it was clear from the start that he didn’t forget about how Jeremy Lin fathered him a few days ago in New Jersey. 38 Pts, 4 Reb, 6 Ast, 1 Stl for one of the NBA’s best point guards.

The Knicks could have used Iman Shumpert’s lock down defense off the bench tonight to attempt to put the clamps on Williams. D-Will is an unstoppable force when he’s on fire like that.

The Nets are terrible at 10-26 which bring me to my next points.  Why can’t the Knicks show up for a game at Madison Square Garden against lottery teams??   Hornets, Raptors, Bobcats, Cavs….. D’Antoni has to find a way to get these guys to show up when they aren’t the underdog.  Carmelo Anthony said he could see it in Williams at the captains meeting before the game.

Jeremy Lin played a great game with 21 Pts, 7 Reb, 9 Ast, 4 Stl, but D-Will took back what was his at MSG tonight.  Lin got picked on defensively but that’s going to happen, this is the NBA.  Williams is capable of doing any guard in the NBA like this on any given night.  Sometimes there’s nothing that can stop a truly great guard like Deron Williams from taking over the game like that.  The Lin show is still rolling on and it’s here to stay,  this guy brings it night after night.

Carmelo Anthony made his return 4-for-11 and was clearly rusty and attempted to share the ball racking up six assists.  Is this what you wanted people? Melo is a scorer and he needs to take 20-25 shots every game.  Anything less and he’s not going to be a very effective basketball player.  He was likely just covered in rust after missing the last stretch of games and is going to resume being a scoring machine very soon.  11 shots is what happens when the media raises stupid sensationalistic questions.  He just needed to get this game under his belt to get the ball rolling in motion to be ready for Atlanta and Miami.

Amare Stoudemire had 17 points on 7-for-17 and 4 rebounds.  The Knicks can’t afford to pay 100 million dollars for him to get four rebounds.  If he did this every night the Knicks would amnesty him at the end of the season.

Baron Davis made his first appearance of the season with 10 minutes and knocked down a 3-pointer and also took a very ill advised 3 on his first possession.  He was rocking #85 and looked like maybe he could provide Lin with the backup minutes that he needs.

With Carmelo, JR, and Baron just coming in, there’s going to be some things to pan out and not much practice time but D’Antoni reitterated after the game that they’ve got to sort some things out but it’s go time.

└ Tags: ,
 Comment 
Feb17

Happy 49th best ever

by DOC on February 17th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Posted In: NBA

Happy birthday to the one and only Michael Jordan, the greatest player ever to play the game.  I was born the same year that MJ started his NBA career, by the time I was 10 he was the biggest star on the planet. I always loved the fact that Mike played his heart out every night because he thought that at least one person in the crowd would never see him play live again.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

Part of the reason Jordan was so great was his competitive fire, he didn’t want to lose anything against anyone.  6-time NBA champion as a player.  He probably needs the birthday wishes right now because his Charlotte Bobcats are 3-26.  Look on the bright side Mike, Anthony Davis could be in your future.

Despite being one of the worst owners in the game, Jordan is the NBA’s Hulk Hogan, the player that carried the game into the new era after the Magic, Bird, and Isiah years.  He was bigger than the game itself.

└ Tags:
 Comment 
Feb16

J.R. SWISH

by DOC on February 16th, 2012 at 9:12 pm
Posted In: NBA

It’s not quite official yet but the Knicks are going to sign electric, smooth shooting, sometimes troubled shooting guard J.R. Smith since his season in the Chinese league is over.  Here is some of what the Knicks can expect to get with Smith, who adds offensive firepower in a big way. Smith routinely dropped 50 and 60 points a night in China.

The only question now is will he start over Landry Fields.  In my opinion, D’Antoni should bring him off the bench because there’s enough scoring firepower in the starting lineup already and Fields is playing good basketball.  Smith would be ideal getting 15 points a night off the bench in a sixth man who logs a lot of minutes type of role.

Exciting pick up for the Knicks if indeed it does go through.  Let’s just hope his mind is right because everything is going good in New York right now and Smith has been known to be a bit of a head case.  I believe this addition will help the already healthy Knicks in the long run.

└ Tags:
 Comment 
Feb16

3-point…. shootout?

by DOC on February 16th, 2012 at 12:38 pm
Posted In: NBA

A big pile of BRICKS is all this year's field of 3-point shootout participants is going to give you during All-Star weekend in Orlando.

I love the NBA 3-point contest because there’s so many great shooters in the NBA and it’s something that isn’t up to judges to decide.  It’s just who can knock down the most shots from deep and it should be a contest of the best long range bombers in the NBA, unfortunately this year’s field leaves a lot to be desired.

2012 3-point contest participants:
James Jones – Heat (Defending Champion) – 40.4% – I’m okay with Jones being in it because he’s the defending champion but playing 11 minutes a game, averaging 3 ppg doesn’t spell out too many big game 3-pointers.

Mario Chalmers – Heat – 46.3 % – Chalmers deserves the be in the contest, fifth in the league in 3-point percentage and has made 38.  Neither Chalmers or Jones are the best shooter on the Heat.  Mike Miller is knocking down the deep ball at 52%, second in the NBA.

Kevin Love – Wolves – 36.2 % – This is a joke.  I do not want to see Love in the 3-point contest.  I know he can knock them down if left open but he’s not one of the best long distance shooters in the league.  There are 40 guys who could have easily been chosen instead.  If it were a rebounding contest, then I would want Kevin Love.

Joe Johnson – Hawks – 35.1 % – Another terrible selection.  First he was a bad pick for the all-star game itself and now they let him in another contest he  hasn’t earned the right to be in. Good player, decent shooter, but long-range marksman? No, he throws up more bricks from down town than the average shooting guard.

Ryan Anderson – Magic – 43.5 % – I can live with this pick because Anderson is having a breakout season, shoots a good percentage from deep, and 3-point shooting is the strength of his game.  In a six person field, there are guys who have an argument ahead of him but this is a sound selection.

Anthony Morrow – Nets – 41.7% – He ranks 28th in 3-point percentage but this isn’t the worst selection.  He’s a nice shooter from long range that gets hot and fills it up from deep.  Would he have made my cut? No.

What the field SHOULD have been:

Brandon Rush – Warriors -54.1 % – Leads the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage and has made his living knocking down the 3-point ball all season long.  This is the one player I thought would one hundred percent be in this contest.

Ray Allen – Celtics – 49.1 % – I don’t really have to explain this one, Shuttlesworth has been one of the best 3-point shooters in the game for a very long time and he should be an automatic in this contest.  Maybe he doesn’t enter because it just wouldn’t be fair to the competition or it could be his age.  Who knows, but the road to winning the contest should go through Allen.

Klay Thompson – Warriors – 48.1 % – The rookie out of Washington State is just another player to get snubbed from the Warriors.  He’s drilled 38 3-pointers this season and has always been a great long-range shooter.  Coach Mark Jackson has already voiced his displeasure over all the players on his team getting the snub.

Jordan Farmar – Nets – 46.1 % – The reserved point guard has nailed 41 3-pointers on the season and is shooting them at a very high clip.  The numbers don’t lie so I don’t understand why these guys aren’t in this contest.

Mario Chalmers – see above.

The reality is that the competition should be 12 players.  Why is it only six?  The NBA needs to fix this thing and make it mean something, this is the most trash garbage field of 3-point shooters in history.  This feels like a bad joke and it’s embarrassing for the league.

Six more bombers who should have been in it before the mops that are:
Vince Carter – Mavs – 46.1 %
Jeff Teague – Hawks – 45.9 %
C.J. Watson – Bulls – 45.8 %
Steve Novak – Knicks – 45.7 %
Chris Paul – Clippers – 44.6%
Willie Green – Hornets – 44.4 %

└ Tags: ,
 Comment 
Feb14

VaLINtines Day

by DOC on February 14th, 2012 at 9:15 pm
Posted In: NBA

Just when you thought Jeremy Lin was going to be just another everyday NBA point guard and the hype machine was going to let up a little, he outdoes himself with a game-winning three in Toronto.

This is unbelievable. The Knicks trailed the entire game before Lin’s clutch shot puts the silencer on Toronto.  The Raptors turned the ball over like five times in the last two minutes, unreal.

Lin had 27 Pts, 11 Ast, and 8 turnovers and really got beat up without getting any foul calls. He played a good game but when it came down to winning time, you see what happened.  Pure clutch.  Either you have it or you don’t and Lin has it.

12 of his 27 points came in the fourth quarter.  Linsanity rolls on and he’s now 6-0 as the Knicks starting point guard.

└ Tags: ,
 Comment 
Feb14

Granny Smith Report #2

by DOC on February 14th, 2012 at 12:37 pm
Posted In: NBA

Linsanity has swept the nation but how will he fit in with his superstar teammates? Like John Stockton and Steve Nash would.

The Knicks are on a five game winning-streak and it’s all happened without two superstars, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire.   In Granny Smith Report #1, I wrote that Jeremy Lin should be getting Mike Bibby’s mop up minutes and that Baron Davis was the glimmer of hope at the point guard position.  That has completely changed, Lin is a star and hopefully Davis can get healthy enough at some point during the season to be his backup.

Fitting IN with LIN:

Amare Stoudemire – Before sitting out the last few games due to the tragic passing of his brother, Stat was averaging the lowest career total of points since his rookie year with 18.2.  The reason? Lack of a distributing guard to get him the ball in the right spots.  He played his best basketball paired up with Steve Nash in Phoenix and Raymond Felton last season.  Lin is a great distributor who has shown that he can get even Jared Jeffries easy baskets.  We all have seen what happens when Stoudemire tries to play one-on-one and create his own shot, it just doesn’t work.  Anything around the painted area or the rim is where you want Stoudemire with the ball.  Lin will take the pressure off of Stat to create and everybody will benefit.  Look for Stat to get the easy buckets he’s been dreaming about for this entire season courtesy of the one and only Jeremy Lin after he returns to the lineup against Toronto today.

Carmelo Anthony – The most ridiculous misconception about Anthony is that he is a selfish player.  When he was hurt, his jumper wasn’t falling, and the Knicks weren’t winning, it was easy to point to him to stop shooting the ball but you have to understand who he is.  The Bully is a scorer, plain and simple, it’s his job to put the ball in the basket.  Is that going to change because Jeremy Lin is running the point guard? No.  In fact, Anthony will be greatly benefited by a playmaker, a guard that can penetrate and take some of the defensive pressure off of Anthony.  It was easy for teams to double off of Toney Douglas and onto Anthony, but teams can’t afford to leave anyone on the floor with a starting lineup of Lin, Landry Fields, Anthony, Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler.  Anthony is an under-rated passer and just like he says ‘Lin is a dream come true’.  The Bully is set to return from injury later this week.

Bench play:

Steve Novak – The sharp-shooter has emerged as someone who can be relied upon to knock down big shots off the bench.  He’s had 19, 19, 9, and 15 points in the Knicks last four games and can absolutely stroke it from down town.  Novak should be in the three-point-contest in Orlando because he would probably win it.  One of the smoothest jump shots in the game is the reason he continues to find a roster spot in the NBA.  His 3-point barrage last game against the Wolves was a major component in the Knicks victory.  Novak is clutch.

Iman Shumpert – I had cooled off a little on Shumpert because I thought he might be a tad fragile, which is not out of the ordinary for someone transitioning into the pro game.  He’s bounced back in a major way with 17, 12, and 20 points in his last three games and also has 12 steals in his last four games including four against the Wolves.  His value is on the defensive end and his ability as a lockdown defender is the reason that I would like to see him split time with Fields at the shooting guard position.

Knicks Next 5:

  • 2/14 at Toronto
  • 2/15 vs Sacramento
  • 2/17 vs New Orleans
  • 2/19 vs Dallas
  • 2/20 vs New Jersey
└ Tags: , , , , ,
 Comment