the red c's NBA 2K13 Association: Kobe and Shaq's Unfinished Business

[the red c]

Oklahoma City Thunder 24-11 (West: 1st) | Los Angeles Lakers 18-17 (West: T-6th)
01/11/2013

Kobe's 41 point performance too much for Thunder

OKC - 29|18|27|34|108
LAL - 27|33|28|30|118

Oklahoma City Thunder
K. Durant - 34 points, 4 assists, 3 blocks
K. Martin - 31 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
R. Westbrook - 14 points, 11 assists, 2 steals
J. Lamb - 13 points
N. Colison - 6 points, 6 rebounds
S. Ibaka - 4 points, 7 rebounds
E. Maynor - 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Los Angeles Lakes
K. Bryant - 41 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal
S. O'Neal - 34 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks
J. Meeks - 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
M. World Peace - 11 points, 7 rebounds
S. Nash - 8 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals
J. Hill - 7 points, 7 rebounds
A. Jamison - 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Games simmed:
vs CLE (20-21) - L 94-83
vs MIL (13-25) - W 104-98

Next Game:
vs MIA 29-8 (East - 1st)

LOS ANGELES LAKERS 20-18 (West - 6th)

[the red c]

NBA TRADE ALERT

Bucks Trade
1. Brandon Jennings - PG, 83 OVR, 23 YRS - RFA 1 YR/3.18M - 3.5 stars
2. D. Gooden - PF, 68 OVR, 31 YRS / 3 YRS/20.04M - 1 star

Jazz Trade
1. Derrick Favors - PF, 75 OVR, 21 YRS - 2 YRS/10.75M - 2.5 stars
2. Alec Burks - SG, 68 OVR, 21 YRS - 2 YRS/4.32M - 1.5 stars
3. 2013 First Round Pick - 1.5 stars

Recap
Brandon Jennings has been at the forefront of trade talks all year long. The Bucks have tried to work on a contract with Jennings but it seems the young point guard has his mind set on a playing elsewhere. Rather than risk letting their best player walk away in free agency, they've decided to ship him out to Utah in exchange for 2 young players and a first round pick. Favors is a 21 year old power forward whose been playing behind Al Jefferson and Paul Milsap. In Milwaukee he'll finally have a chance to see significant playing time and he'll get a better opportunity of realizing his full potential. Burks is a young shooting guard who could develop into a solid role player. The Jazz's first round pick projects to be in the early to mid-twenties. Perhaps they can use that pick as a trade piece around draft time.

The loss of Jennings will surely hurt the Bucks. They did throw in Drew Gooden as well. He's an aging player on an contract that's looking worse and worse and season goes by. If Derrick Favors develops into a fringe All-Star player, the Bucks should end up pleased with this trade.

The Jazz are having a great year thus far. They're in the running for home court advantage in the playoffs out in the Western conference. They've just resigned Al Jefferson who is having a career year. Gordon Hayward has emerged as the team's leading scorer. And now they've added one of the league's most promising point guards, Brandon Jennings. With the addition of a premier facilitator, the Jazz are pushing their chips in and are set to challenge the NBA's best teams.

EDITORS NOTE:
I was ready to trade one of league's better players but I wanted the most realistic situation. It was down to Jennings and Iggy. I wanted to send Iggy to Magic to see if him and Dwight could challenge the Heat. But Denver is having a good year and it didn't feel right at the time. Maybe closer to the deadline.

As far as Jennings, it was between the Knicks, the Spurs, and the Jazz. The Knicks couldn't put together a package comparable to the Spurs and Jazz. Plus I didn't feel right about trading him to another team in the East. The Spurs were going to trade Danny Green, Patty Mills, and '13 first round pick. I felt like the Jazz were able to put together a better offer overall. And even though the Spurs are currently out of the playoff race, they seem more likely to wait it out.

[the red c]

NBA ALL-STAR BREAK

We're entering the home stretch of the 2012-13 regular season and here's an update around the league

PLAYOFF RACE
WESTERN CONFERENCE
01. Thunder - 37-16; GB --
02. Grizzlies - 30-21; GB 6.0
03. Nuggets 31-23; GB 6.5
04. Clippers 31-25; GB 7.5
05. Jazz 29-25; GB 8.5
06. Lakers 28-26; GB 9.5
07. Mavericks 27-25; GB 9.5
08. Suns 26-27; GB 11.0
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
09. Rockets 26-29; GB 12.0
10. Spurs 24-30; GB 13.5
11. Warriors 23-29; GB Warriors 13.5
12. Trail Blazers 23-30; GB 14.0
13. Timberwolves 19-31; GB 16.5
14. Hornets 18-35; GB 19.0
15. Kings 12-42; GB 25.5

EASTERN CONFERENCE
01. Heat 39-11; GB --
02. Bulls 33-19; GB 7.0
03. 76ers 31-20; GB 8.5
04. Knicks 28-22; GB 11.0
05. Magic 29-23; GB 11.0
06. Nets 29-24; GB 11.5
07. Pacers 28-25; GB 12.5
08. Pistons 28-26; GB 13.0
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
09. Raptors 27-26; GB 13.5
10. Celtics 26-26; GB 14.0
11. Cavaliers 24-29; GB 16.5
12. Hawks 22-29; GB 17.5
13. Wizards 21-30; GB 18.5
14. Bucks 20-31; GB 19.5
15. Bobcats 19-33; GB 21.0

ALL STARS
WEST
G - Chris Paul - Clippers
G - Russell Westbrook - Thunder
F - Kevin Durant - Thunder
F - Tim Duncan - Spurs
C - Shaquille O'Neal - Lakers
6 - Stephen Curry - Warriors
7 - James Harden - Rockets
8 - Danilo Gallinari - Nuggets
9 - Kevin Love - Timberwolves
10 - DeMarcus Cousins - Kings
11 - Brandon Jennings - Jazz
12 - Goran Dragic - Suns

EAST
G - Derrick Rose - Bulls
G - Dwyane Wade - Heat
F - LeBron James - Heat
F - Carmelo Anthony - Knicks
C - Dwight Howard - Magic
6 - Kyrie Irving - Cavaliers
7 - Paul George - Pacers
8 - Danny Granger - Pacers
9 - Josh Smith - Hawks
10 - Greg Monroe - Pistons
11 - Deron Williams - Nets
12 - Jrue Holiday - 76ers

AROUND THE LEAGUE
League Leaders
Points
S. O'Neal - 28.4
J. Harden - 27.4
C. Anthony - 26.7
L. James - 26.6
K. Durant - 26.5

Rebounds
S. O'Neal - 12.1
B. Griffin - 11.9
A. Varejao - 11.5
K. Love - 11.3
D. Howard - 11.0

Assists
K. Lowry - 9.5
G. Vasquez - 9.4
G. Dragic - 9.3
R. Rondo - 9.1
T. Lawson - 8.6