Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG



Today the NBA announced the 2008 All Star Rosters. Take a look at who made it below!

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG



It happened again. The young Timberwolves team came to play and had a lead at half, upon which they would expand to 12 at the end of the 3rd quarter before looking like a completely different team. The Wolves somehow squandered the double digit lead, giving up 33 points in the final frame to the Denver Nuggets en route to a 4 point loss, a 16 point swing in just 12 minutes.

The Wolves debuted their newest member, Center Eddy Curry, who played well in his time on the floor as he lead the Wolves in scoring in his 29 minutes of play. He did this despite looking woefully out of shape, and it looked clear that the Wolves will have to restrict both his overall minutes, as well as the length of time he is on the floor for a given stretch to maximize his effectiveness. The low post combination of Curry and Al Jefferson beat up on the smaller Kenyon Martin, who was relentlessly targeted with low post ups whichever of the two players he was tasked with guarding.

For the Nuggets, they were lead in the first half by the ever effective Allen Iverson, and in the second half the timely shooting of J.R. Smith played a huge role in their comeback. However it was when Carmelo Anthony decided to wake up that they began their comeback in earnest. Anthony, fresh of being named to his 2nd straight All Star team in his young career was a scoring machine in the 2nd half, scoring 21 of his 29 points after the break. He did it in a variety of ways, pick and roll, post ups, curling off screens. It was clear that he is an extremely talented scorer on the perimeter, and that is something the Wolves currently lack.

As nice as it is to have Jefferson and now Curry in the post to dump it down to, they are rather single faceted in the way that they can score, not to mention that neither has any sort of range to be a threat out to the 3 point line. Wing scorers such as Anthony who can get a bucket anywhere on the court in countless ways are becoming more and more valuable compared to low post scorers, which leads to the question of should the Timberwolves be shopping Al Jefferson to find their wing scorer? Should they be looking at Michael Beasley or OJ Mayo in the draft over Derrick Rose should they win the lottery?

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG




It was a rather quiet trade deadline, but a couple deals were processed and each have the potential to make a significant impact.





First up we saw the Cleveland Cavaliers give up a Top 10 protected 2008 draft pick along with the expiring salary of PF Donyell Marshall to the Orlando Magic who get out of the remaining 3 years of SF Hedo Turkoglu's contract to pick up a late lottery/mid round draft pick.

Turkoglu gives the Cavaliers another offensive dimension as he can be a spot up shooter that LeBron James can find, and he can also play some point forward taking some of the playmaking duties off of LeBron. So far this season Turkoglu is averaging 14.4 ppg along with 6.7 rpg and 5.2 apg. His addition should be the shot in the arm the Cavs need to ensure they make the playoffs, which despite LeBron's dominance this season is not a certain thing to happen.




The other trade we saw is relevant to Minnesota fans as the Timberwolves traded Adam Morrison to the Memphis Grizzlies for swingman Mike Miller. The rumor coming out of Minnesota is they had been working on a 3 team deal that would have sent Morrison to the Phoenix Suns, with the Suns sending future draft picks to the Grizzlies and Mike Miller still being routed to Minnesota, however that deal fell apart late in the process as Phoenix dragged their feet over pick protections.

Morrison never really fit into the Wolves offense after coming over in an early season trade from the Charlotte Bobcats. He is averaging 11.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game thus far in the 2007-08 campaign, but the rebounding was mostly due to being played at power forward for the Wolves rather than Morrison having a knack for tracking down rebounds from the wing.

Mike Miller is heading into unrestricted free agency after the season, so with the Wolves giving up on a young prospect in Morrison to get him for half the season, they have to be interested in retaining him this off season. Miller is a 3 point marksman, shooting over 40% from deep on the season on over 5 attempts per game. The Wolves can now surround Al Jefferson with deadly shooters which should minimize the effectiveness of the double teams he's been seeing lately.






The Wolves weren't done making moves however, as they waived veteran guard Trenton Hassell, who had not yet made an appearance this season, and signed PF Josh McRoberts, a 2nd year big man out of Duke.

McRoberts is expected to fill some bench PF minutes leftover after the trades of Antoine Walker and Adam Morrison, both of who primarily played the PF position. Since the Walker trade for C Eddy Curry, the Wolves have been running Al Jefferson and Craig Smith at the position for most of the game, leaving only some minutes there for Morrison to pick up. Those minutes are now expected to go to McRoberts.

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG






All Star Weekend, always a fun time of year for fans young and old as the best of the best come together for a weekend of fun festivities. To get us started on Saturday night we saw the 3 point contest which featured 8 of the leagues top shooters.

After an exciting first round, we were left with just the Wizards Gilbert "Agent 0" Arenas, the Nets Eddie House, and the Hawks Joe Johnson who squared away in a winner take all final round. Arenas went first and only managed a score of 15 as he went cold following a perfect first rack. Second up was Joe Johnson, who was on fire and finished with a score of 22. Finally up was Eddie House who struggled, and was eliminated from being able to win halfway through the 4th rack.





Next up was the Dunk Contest which pitted Josh Smith of the Hawks, Hakim Warrick of the Grizzlies, Gerald Green of the Timberwolves, and Brandon Roy of the Trail Blazers. The Dunk Contest was no contest as Gerald Green ran away with it with his jaw dropping hang time. Green finished with two perfectly scored dunks and one that was scored as a 48 for a 148 total score, the 2nd place dunker was Hakim Warrick who had a 3 dunk score of 124.






Finally came the All Star Game on Sunday night which somewhat surprisingly the Eastern Conference completely dominated the Western Conference to the tune of a 152-136 victory. The East was lead by game MVP Kevin Garnett who had 28 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks. Games resume this upcoming Friday as teams are given an extended break for the All Star game.

We have heard rumblings throughout the season that the New Orleans Hornets will be relinquishing the Hornets name back to the city of Charlotte following this season, and the branding of the All Star Weekend gave credence to that rumor as the logo and court were reminiscent of the classic Charlotte Hornets look. Don't expect an official announcement until after the season is over however. There are also rumors of Oklahoma City getting a team as early as next season, could they be getting the New Orleans team after supporting them while they were displaced due to Hurricane Katrina for two seasons, or could there be another team on the move, or perhaps the league is looking at expansion?

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG




Friday's game vs the New York Knicks in New York had a plethora of interesting storylines to follow, let's take a gander at some of them.


Eddy Curry's Return to MSG
For the first time since he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, C Eddy Curry returned back to MSG. Early on Curry played motivated as he scored 2 quick buckets, however as the game went on and the adrenaline of returning to face his former team faded Curry disappeared into the background finishing with 6 points, 5 rebounds 1 assist and 1 steal.

Wolves vs Steph Marbury
Anytime the Timberwolves face Stephon Marbury there are going to be bitter feelings amongst fans after Marbury forced his way out of Minnesota just as he and Kevin Garnett were bringing the Wolves into relevance for the first time in franchise history. That moment is a major point in franchise history that fans look back and wonder "What if?". Marbury finished with 17 points on 8-13 shooting, while also grabbing 3 rebounds and tallying 5 assists. He's clearly no longer in his athletic prime but remains a quality starting point guard in the league.

Sebastian Telfair Returns Home
Sebastian Telfair, the cousin of Stephon Marbury, was billed as a phenom coming out of high school in New York. He hasn't lived up to the billing thus far in his career, but it was clear in his limited minutes tonight that he was excited to be playing at home again. Telfair finished the game with 8 points and 3 assists, but played with great energy all game. If he could play more games like this, he may be able to develop into a quality player in the league.

Mike Miller and Josh McRoberts Debut
Mike Miller is going to be a fun player to root for, if you look at the box score and look at his shooting numbers from tonight you might not get very excited, however the 10-20 from the field and 3-10 from 3 point land don't tell the entire story. Miller is a streaky shooter at times, but when he's hot look out. And he started the game on fire, scoring 8 points in a 60 second stretch. His first bucket as a Timberwolf came as he curled off a screen, caught a Randy Foye pass, turned and drained the purest swish you've ever seen from 4 feet beyond the 3 point line. He followed that up with a pullup 3 in transition following an Eddy Curry steal, and capped off the stretch with a fading mid range shot after running pick and roll with Al Jefferson. His overall percentages were't great tonight, but he clearly doesn't let missed shots deter him from pulling the trigger which is a great mentality for a shooter to have. Shooters shoot.

The other debut came in the form of Josh McRoberts who played surprisingly well in the garbage man bigman role he was given. So much so that he got about double the minutes that he was anticipating getting. McRoberts set good solid screens, he played good defense, he boxed out and grabbed rebounds. If this type of play continues the Wolves may have found at minimum a quality rotation player.

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG



March 18th, 2008

After leaving yesterday's 2 point loss to the Houston Rockets with an apparent knee injury, Minnesota Timberwolves Center Al Jefferson has been confirmed to have a left knee injury. With only 12 games left on the season, it is expected that the Timberwolves, losers of their last 12, will shut down the young big man for the rest of the season.




We are entering the final stretch run for the playoffs and teams are battling for seeding and to make their way into the playoffs. Here is how things stand with just 23 days left on the season.





As you can see, only 3 teams have clinched their playoff berths, and all 3 come in the Eastern Conference. Its also in the Eastern Conference that we have the most interesting race for the 8th seed as there are 5 teams battling for the last spot, and with 13 games or so remaining for each team anything can happen down the stretch.

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG



Ladies and Gentleman, we may have the latest college player shooting up draft boards following a spectacular NCAA Tournament as the unheralded Stephan Curry of the Davidson Wildcats has captivated the nation through the first two rounds of the tournament. Curry has lead the 10th seeded Wildcats to upsets over the 7th seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs, and the 2nd seed Georgetown Hoyas with 40 point and 30 point games respectively.





Curry, the son of former NBA sharpshooter Dell Curry, was the 4th leading scorer in the nation this season upon his 25.9 points per game average. While Curry is an absolute marksman from deep, shooting 44% on the season on a ridiculous 10.3 attempts, he is showcasing that he is not just a shooter as he notched 5 steals vs Gonzaga and 3 against Georgetown. He is currently playing shooting guard for the Wildcats, but is showcasing elite ball handling ability and solid court vision that could mean a move to point guard at the next level is possible.

He doesn't have elite size or athleticism for playing SG as he stands just 6'3" and is listed at only 185 pounds. His slight frame is certainly a concern at the NBA level, and while he has a knack for steals, he just doesn't have the strength or lateral quickness to be a quality NBA defender so his best fit will be alongside a good defender who can take the tougher backcourt matchup.

That said, he has some impressive game tape from this season and this tournament run is solidifying him as a lottery pick should he decide to declare for the NBA draft and cash in on the hype.

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG




We are just 7 days away from the end of the season so its time to count our way down to the playoffs.




WESTERN CONFERENCE

Lets start with the Western Conference where 6 of the 8 teams are locked in to a playoff position. Those teams are:

1. Golden State Warriors - 52-25
2. New Orleans Hornets - 50-28
3. San Antonio Spurs - 50-28
4. Utah Jazz - 49-28
5. Phoenix Suns - 47-31
6. Portland Trail Blazers - 46-31

The teams fighting for the 7th and 8th seed are:

1. Houston Rockets - 45-33 (4 games left)
2. Denver Nuggets - 43-34 (5 Games Left)
3. Dallas Mavericks - 40-37 (5 Games Left)
4. Sacramento Kings - 40-38 (4 Games Left)

The likelihood of either the Rockets or Nuggets falling out of the playoffs at this point is slim to none, however the Mavericks do face the Timberwolves once, and the Grizzlies twice in their final 5 games so if either the Nuggets or the Rockets go on a losing streak they may be able to sneak in.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Over in the Eastern Conference, 7 of the 8 playoff spots have been decided, but there are 5 teams that have a chance at the final spot. Lets first look at the teams who will be playing playoff basketball this April.

1. Boston Celtics - 54-24
2. Chicago Bulls - 49-29
3. New Jersey Nets - 48-30
4. Detroit Pistons - 42-35
5. Washington Wizards - 42-36
6. Indiana Pacers- 42-36
7. Atlanta Hawks - 41-37

and now the interesting part, 5 teams fighting for one final playoff spot

1. Cleveland Cavaliers - 36-42 (4 Games Left)
2. New York Knicks - 35-42 (5 games Left)
3. Philadelphia 76ers -35-42 (5 Games Left)
4. Orlando Magic 34-44 (4 Games Left)
5. Toronto Raptors 33-45 (4 Games Left)

Now the Magic and Raptors would both need miracles in order to make the post season, however they are not yet mathematically eliminated so we can't count them out just yet.

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG




We are now just 4 days away from the end of the season, and the playoff races are getting mighty interesting!




WESTERN CONFERENCE

The Western Conference remains open with 6 of the 8 teams are locked in to a playoff position. Those teams are:

1. Golden State Warriors - 54-25
2. New Orleans Hornets - 51-29
3. San Antonio Spurs - 51-29
4. Utah Jazz - 50-29
5. Phoenix Suns - 48-32
6. Portland Trail Blazers - 46-33

The final 2 spots in the playoffs have come down to 3 teams:

1. Houston Rockets - 45-35 (2 Games Left)
2. Denver Nuggets - 44-35 (3 Games Left)
3. Dallas Mavericks - 42-37 (3 Games Left)

The Rockets will face the Suns and Sonics to finish their season, while the Nuggets play the Blazers, Jazz, and Timberwolves, and Mavericks take on the Grizzlies, Suns, and Spurs to close their season.


EASTERN CONFERENCE

Over in the Eastern Conference, the final playoff spot has yet to be decided, but the teams fighting for that spot has been knocked down from 5 to 4.

1. Boston Celtics - 56-24
2. Chicago Bulls - 51-29
3. New Jersey Nets - 50-30
4. Detroit Pistons - 44-35
5. Atlanta Hawks - 43-37
6. Washington Wizards - 43-37
7. Indiana Pacers - 42-38

The final spot has come down to the following teams:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers - 37-43 (2 Games Left)
2. New York Knicks - 36-43 (3 Games Left)
3. Philadelphia 76ers - 36-44 (2 Games Left)
4. Orlando Magic - 35-45 (2 Games Left)

To close the season the Cavaliers will face the Spurs and Bobcats, while the Knicks take on the Wizards, Bulls, and Pistons, the 76ers play the Heat and Bulls, and the Magic play the Celtics and Bobcats.

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG




There is just one day left in the NBA season, and the final playoff spots will be decided today.



WESTERN CONFERENCE

In the Western Conference we have added a 7th team to the "will be playing in the playoffs" list as the Houston Rockets have clinched the 7th seed.

1. Golden State Warriors - 55-26
2. New Orleans Hornets - 52-30
3. San Antonio Spurs - 51-30
4. Utah Jazz - 50-31
5. Portland Trail Blazers - 48-33
6. Phoenix Suns - 48-34
7. Houston Rockets - 47-35

The final seed will come down to the Denver Nuggets and the Dallas Mavericks on the final day of the season. The Mavericks will make the playoffs with a win over the San Antonio Spurs and a Nuggets loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. If either of those things does not happen the Denver Nuggets will be the 8th seed and take on the Golden State Warriors in round 1 of the playoffs.


EASTERN CONFERENCE

Over in the Eastern Conference, the final playoff spot has been decided as the Cleveland Cavaliers won their final 2 games to finish with a 39-43 record. This paired with a New York Knicks loss yesterday at the Chicago Bulls (99-97) means that the Cavaliers sneak into the playoffs and will be facing the Boston Celtics in round 1.

1. Boston Celtics - 57-25
2. Chicago Bulls - 52-29
3. New Jersey Nets - 50-31
4. Detroit Pistons - 46-35
5. Atlanta Hawks - 44-37
6. Washington Wizards - 44-37
7. Indiana Pacers - 43-38
8. Cleveland Cavaliers - 39-44

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG



With their season on the line, the Dallas Mavericks laid an egg as they got blown out 111-86 by the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs were lead by Tony Parker who scored 25 points and chipped in 7 assists. Dallas Mavericks star PF Dirk Nowitzki was completely neutralized by Tim Duncan as he only managed 10 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist in the biggest game of the year.

Now that the playoff field is set, lets take a look at the playoff tree and highlight some matchups.





The 4/5 and 3/6 matchups in the Western Conference should be GREAT series in terms of the matchups. The 4th seeded Utah Jazz are coming into the playoffs on a 4 game losing streak, while their opponent the 5th seeded Portland Trail Blazers are riding a 3 game winning streak. Both teams feature stellar guard play, and talented bigs. I think Brandon Roy, Lamarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden will be too much for the Jazz to handle and will move on to the 2nd round.

If that series has you excited, the San Antonio Spurs vs Phoenix Suns matchup has the makings of an all time great matchup. The Suns and their free wheeling run n' gun offense matchup with the stifling defense of the San Antonio Spurs lead by MVP candidate Tim Duncan. This series should go 5 or 6 games but in the end the Spurs will be too much for the Suns to handle and will move on.

Over in the Eastern Conference a matchup to keep your eye on is the Boston Celtics vs the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Celtics assembled a super team this off season, trading for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and they rode the wave all the way to the best record in the league. That said, they face off with the best player in the league in LeBron James who you can never count out in a playoff series regardless of who his supporting cast is. I expect LBJ to put up a hell of a fight, but the Celtics are simply too talented for the King to overcome and will be moving on to the 2nd round.

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG







We are four games into each playoff series, which means that every team has hosted their first two home games, and thus far we are having a number of fantastic series with only the Golden State Warriors having advanced following their 4-0 sweep over the Denver Nuggets.

The biggest surprise so far in the playoffs is the 7 seeds, as both the Houston Rockets and the Atlanta Hawks hold 3-1 leads over the 2nd seeded New Orleans Hornets and Chicago Bulls respectively. The Hawks are being lead by the scoring punch of Joe Johnson, who is 2nd in points per game in the playoffs with a 28.5 average. Johnson isn't doing it alone however as the Hawks have 5 players averaging double digits through the first 4 games of the series, which has been as closely contested as you can get with the first 3 games being decided by a single point each.

One more thing to keep an eye on, despite their 3-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs, the Phoenix Suns are in danger of not moving on in the playoffs as their top two scorers in Shawn Marion and Amar'e Stoudemire are both fighting off injuries as both are listed as day to day with back spasms, and a hyperextended knee respectively.

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG




What an exciting 1st round we just experienced as we saw every series but 1 go at least 6 games, with 4 of them going 7. Ultimately, home court advantage was not much of an advantage as only the 1st seeded Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics moved on from the teams that held home court advantage in the series. In every other series the lower seed moved on and which sets up some interesting matchups in Round 2.





Golden State Warriors (1) vs Portland Trail Blazers (5)

In their round 1 sweep, the Warriors had an average point differential of 17 points as they not only scored the most points per game in the 1st round, but also allowed the 3rd least to be scored. By contrast, the Blazers had the 3rd best offense in round 1 and the 4th worst defense. Its hard to see this matchup going past 5 games as the Warriors look primed to roll into the conference finals behind their potent offense lead by Baron Davis.

Phoenix Suns (6) vs Houston Rockets (7)

This matchup on paper, is the best of the 2nd round as we watch Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire take on Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming in a battle for Southwest supremacy. With as good as the Rockets looked in round 1, the series will hinge on whether Steve Nash at age 33 can step up his game, as I don't see the Suns moving on if he only averages 14 points and 8 assists as he did vs the Spurs.


Boston Celtics (1) vs Indiana Pacers (5)

The Pacers lack the star power to matchup with the Celtics and it will take Danny Granger and Jermaine O'Neal playing out of their minds to keep pace with the Celtics, who are lead by MVP candidate Kevin Garnett who has posted some monster numbers so far in the playoffs. The Pacers may steal a a game or two, but the Celtics should be moving on to the conference finals.

Washington Wizards (6) vs Atlanta Hawks (7)

This series should be full of fireworks, as the top two playoff scorers face off in Joe Johnson (33 ppg) and Gilbert Arenas (27 ppg) square off. Both star players are going to get theirs just as they did against two very good defenses in the Bulls and Nets respectively, which means the series is going to come down to which team's role players will step up. In my opinion, it sill be the Hawks. Josh Smith has been efficient so far in the playoffs, something he wasn't through the regular season, and the young big man combo of Zaza Pachulia and Al Horford have a good combination of defense and rebounding which will allow the Hawks to get out and run in transition. This one should go 6 games at least but I expect to see Atlanta come out on top.

[zenheadbutt]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG

The graphics in here are nice.

[TheDominator273]

Re: Dancing with Wolves - A Re-Do of Life After KG




The Conference Finals are set, and they are not looking like what was expected at the beginning of the playoffs. While in the Western Conference we had one series won in 5 while the other won in 7, it was expected that the first seeded Golden State Warriors would be the ones who won in 5 games over the 5th seeded Portland Trail Blazers, however it was actually the Phoenix Suns who won games 2-5 to take out the Houston Rockets in 5 games while the Warriors took 7 games to dispatch of the Trail Blazers.





While over in the Eastern Conference we saw the Washington Wizards dismantle the Atlanta Hawks in 5 games, and in the shock of the playoffs, the regular season's best team the Boston Celtics fell to the Indiana Pacers in 6 games. The Celtics were heavy favorites heading into the series, but they really missed the shooting of Ray Allen, who has not played since the end of the season due to a knee injury. The upset leads to an interesting matchup of a high powered offense in the Washington Wizards facing off against the stingy Pacers defense. The old adage of "defense wins championships" will be put to the test in this series.